Graduate Programs in Rehabilitation Sciences, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Brain, Behaviour, & Development Theme, BC Children's Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada.
Child Care Health Dev. 2024 Jan;50(1):e13230. doi: 10.1111/cch.13230.
Affecting one in 20 children, Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder impacting a child's ability to learn motor skills. Despite its high prevalence, DCD is under-recognized and under-diagnosed, causing unnecessary frustration and stress for families who are seeking help for their child. This study aimed to understand how parents procure diagnostic services and their perspectives on needed supports and services to improve early identification and diagnosis of DCD.
Using a multi-pronged recruitment strategy, we circulated the impACT for DCD online questionnaire to parents of children (<18 years) in British Columbia with suspected or diagnosed DCD. Data were analysed descriptively using medians/interquartile ranges for continuous data and frequencies/percentages for categorical data. Open-ended questions were analysed using exploratory content analysis.
A total of 237 respondent data were analysed. Parents identified poor awareness and understanding of health care professionals and educators regarding aetiology, symptomology, and impacts of DCD, affecting timely access to diagnostic services. Long waitlists were also a barrier that often led families with financial means to procure private diagnostic assessments.
A standard of care is needed for streamlined diagnostic services, enabling early identification and early intervention. A publicly funded, family-centred, collaborative care approach is critical to assess, diagnose, and treat children with this disorder and to mitigate the secondary physical and mental health consequences associated with DCD.
发育性协调障碍（DCD）影响每 20 名儿童中的 1 名，是一种常见的神经发育障碍，影响儿童学习运动技能的能力。尽管其发病率很高，但 DCD 未得到充分认识和诊断，这给寻求帮助的家庭带来了不必要的挫折和压力。本研究旨在了解父母如何获得诊断服务，以及他们对所需支持和服务的看法，以改善 DCD 的早期识别和诊断。
我们使用多种招募策略，向不列颠哥伦比亚省有疑似或确诊 DCD 儿童（<18 岁）的父母分发了 impACT for DCD 在线问卷。使用中位数/四分位距表示连续数据，使用频率/百分比表示分类数据对数据进行描述性分析。使用探索性内容分析对开放式问题进行分析。
共分析了 237 名受访者的数据。父母发现医疗保健专业人员和教育工作者对病因、症状和 DCD 影响的认识和理解不足，这影响了及时获得诊断服务的机会。长等待名单也是一个障碍，往往导致有经济能力的家庭寻求私人诊断评估。
需要制定标准化的护理标准，以实现诊断服务的简化，从而实现早期识别和早期干预。需要采用以家庭为中心的、协作的、由公众资助的护理方法，对患有这种疾病的儿童进行评估、诊断和治疗，并减轻与 DCD 相关的继发性身心健康后果。
