Lakia Kearson, PsyD, is Neuropsychology Fellow, Department of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.
Christina Dandar, MA, is Neuropsychology Intern, Department of Psychology and Biobehavioral Sciences, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.
Am J Occup Ther. 2024 Sep 1;78(5). doi: 10.5014/ajot.2024.050684.
Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) are at heightened risk of poor neurocognitive and academic outcomes. The relationship between fine motor skills and academic outcomes is not well understood.
To compare the fine motor skills of individuals with SCD with normative expectations, test whether demographic and medical factors are associated with fine motor performance, and determine the impact of fine motor performance on academic performance.
Cross-sectional.
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.
Individuals with SCD (N = 376; ages 8-24 yr).
Fine motor outcomes included visual-motor integration, manual dexterity, and graphomotor speed. Academic outcomes included math fluency and word reading. Demographic and medical variables were obtained via medical records and interviews.
Compared with normative expectations, the performance of individuals with SCD on all fine motor measures was lower than expected. Male sex, lower socioeconomic status, and lower oxygen saturation was associated with slower graphomotor speed. Lower socioeconomic status and older age were associated with lower visual-motor integration scores. Performance on all fine motor measures was positively associated with math fluency and word reading.
Individuals with SCD exhibited poorer than expected fine motor skills across multiple motor domains, and these deficits were associated with poorer academic outcomes. Early referral to intervention services for fine motor skills may facilitate improved academic outcomes for individuals with SCD. Plain-Language Summary: This study had three objectives: (1) Compare the fine motor skills of people with sickle cell disease (SCD) with normative expectations, (2) test whether demographic and medical factors are associated with fine motor performance, and (3) determine the impact of fine motor performance on academic performance. We found that SCD is a risk factor for lower than expected fine motor performance across multiple fine motor domains and that these deficits also affect functional academic skills.
患有镰状细胞病 (SCD) 的个体发生神经认知和学业不良结果的风险增加。精细运动技能与学业结果之间的关系尚未得到充分理解。
将 SCD 个体的精细运动技能与标准预期进行比较，检验人口统计学和医学因素是否与精细运动表现相关，并确定精细运动表现对学业表现的影响。
横断面研究。
圣裘德儿童研究医院。
SCD 个体（N=376；年龄 8-24 岁）。
精细运动结果包括视觉运动整合、手灵巧性和图形运动速度。学业结果包括数学流畅性和单词阅读。人口统计学和医学变量通过病历和访谈获得。
与标准预期相比，SCD 个体在所有精细运动测量中的表现均低于预期。男性、较低的社会经济地位和较低的血氧饱和度与图形运动速度较慢相关。较低的社会经济地位和年龄较大与较低的视觉运动整合评分相关。所有精细运动测量的表现均与数学流畅性和单词阅读呈正相关。
SCD 个体在多个运动领域表现出较差于预期的精细运动技能，这些缺陷与较差的学业结果相关。早期向精细运动技能干预服务转诊可能有助于改善 SCD 个体的学业结果。
