REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium.
REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium; IPEM, Institute of Psychoacoustic and Electronic music, Faculty of Art and Philosophy, Gent University, Gent, Belgium.
Hum Mov Sci. 2024 Aug;96:103252. doi: 10.1016/j.humov.2024.103252. Epub 2024 Jul 16.
A different interlimb coordination and higher variability in movement patterns is evident in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The impact of DCD on interlimb coordination during walking and running is unknown.
To assess interlimb coordination and spatiotemporal variability during overground walking and running in children with and without DCD.
Children with DCD and typically developing children (TDC), from 8 to 12 years participated. Children were equipped with portable sensors. Participants walked and ran for 3 min in an oval-path at their comfortable pace. Interlimb coordination, expressed by the phase coordination index (PCI), and spatiotemporal variability (coefficient of variance (CoV)) were collected.
Twenty-one children with DCD and 23 TDC participated. During walking, PCI showed similar values in both groups, but a higher spatiotemporal variability was observed in children with DCD. During running, PCI was higher (reduced coordination) in children with DCD than TDC and a higher spatiotemporal variability was shown.
Only during running, interlimb coordination of children with DCD was lower than TDC. During both walking and running tasks, spatiotemporal variability was higher in DCD. Current results implicate that difficulties in children with DCD is more prominent when motor coordination is more challenged.
This paper adds to the literature on coordination and gait pattern in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) through a cross-sectional analysis of interlimb coordination and variability of spatiotemporal measures of overground walking and running. Overground walking and running were performed in a large oval-path allowing the assessment of coordination and gait patterns in an ecological valid set-up. Our results indicate that during a more demanding task, namely running, children with DCD display a less coordinated running pattern, expressed by a significantly higher phase coordination index, than typically developing peers. During walking, the interlimb coordination was similar between both groups. The current result is in accordance with the hybrid model of DCD that states that motor coordination difficulties in DCD are dpendent on the interaction of the task, individual and environment. This highlights the importance of implementing running assessments in children with DCD and the need for task-oriented running training in clinical practice The study also supports previous findings that children with DCD show a higher variability in their gait pattern of both walking and running, expressed by higher coefficient of variance of spatiotemporal measures, than typically developing peers. Further understanding in the normal development of interlimb coordination during walking and running from childhood into adulthood will enhance interpretations of the phase coordination index in children with and without DCD.
发育性协调障碍（DCD）儿童的肢体间协调性和运动模式的变异性较高。目前尚不清楚 DCD 对行走和跑步时肢体间协调性的影响。
评估患有和不患有 DCD 的儿童在地面行走和跑步时的肢体间协调性和时空变异性。
8 至 12 岁的患有 DCD 和典型发育儿童（TDC）参加了此项研究。儿童配备了便携式传感器。参与者以舒适的速度在椭圆形路径上行走和跑步 3 分钟。收集肢体间协调性（用相位协调指数（PCI）表示）和时空变异性（变异系数（CoV））。
21 名患有 DCD 的儿童和 23 名 TDC 参加了此项研究。在行走过程中，两组的 PCI 值相似，但 DCD 儿童的时空变异性更高。在跑步过程中，DCD 儿童的 PCI 更高（协调性降低），且表现出更高的时空变异性。
仅在跑步时，患有 DCD 的儿童的肢体间协调性低于 TDC。在行走和跑步任务中，DCD 儿童的时空变异性均更高。目前的研究结果表明，当运动协调性受到更大挑战时，DCD 儿童的困难更为突出。
通过对地面行走和跑步的肢体间协调性和时空测量变异性的横断面分析，本文增加了关于发育性协调障碍（DCD）儿童协调性和步态模式的文献。在一个大的椭圆形路径上进行地面行走和跑步，使协调和步态模式的评估更加生态有效。我们的结果表明，在更具挑战性的任务（即跑步）中，患有 DCD 的儿童表现出不协调的跑步模式，相位协调指数显著较高，而与典型发育的同龄人相比。在行走时，两组之间的肢体间协调性相似。目前的结果与 DCD 的混合模型一致，即 DCD 中的运动协调困难取决于任务、个体和环境的相互作用。这强调了在患有 DCD 的儿童中实施跑步评估以及在临床实践中进行以任务为导向的跑步训练的重要性。该研究还支持以前的发现，即患有 DCD 的儿童在行走和跑步的步态模式中表现出更高的变异性，时空测量的变异系数更高，而与典型发育的同龄人相比。进一步了解从儿童期到成年期行走和跑步时肢体间协调性的正常发展，将增强对患有和不患有 DCD 的儿童的相位协调指数的解释。
