Movement Strategies During Balance Tasks in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age7-12
SponsorHasselt University
About this trial
The main objective of the study is to gain insights in how children learn a balance task and whether there is a difference between children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder. Furthermore, the investigators are interested in the brain activity of these children while learning this new balance task.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Children with the clinical diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) based on criteria of the DSM-5 (APA, 2013), diagnosed by a pediatrician.
Children who have no formal diagnosis are evaluated by the research team using the diagnostic criteria as outlined in the inclusion criteria, these children will be included as "suspected of having DCD"
Balance problems need to be present and objectified with the Balance Evaluation Systems Test for Children, second edition (Kids-BESTest-2). (total score below 80%)
Total score at or below the 25th percentile on the Movement Assessment Battery for children, second edition
Disqualifiers
Intellectual problems
Visual problems
Vestibular problems
Neurological conditions
Trial design
Design model
Single group
Treatments tested in this trial
Single-session balance intervention in virtual reality
Other interventionSingle-session balance intervention (30 minutes) in a virtual reality environment, the Gait Real-time analysis Interactive Lab (GRAIL) or the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) in children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (Motek Medical, The Netherlands).
Treatment groups
50 Participants
are divided into 1 treatment groupGroup A: Learning of a new balance task in virtual realityExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Changes in the center of mass velocity and acceleration after a single-training session in VR and after a one-week retention
Measurement of the movement strategies used by children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) during a balance task. The movement strategies are measured by looking at the center of mass velocity and acceleration during this balance task. The goal is to: (1) investigate whether there is a difference in the used strategies between baseline and after a single training session of 30 minutes; (2) see whether the changes stay present after a one-week retention; (3) see whether there are differences between children with and without DCD.
Time frame
Baseline, after 30 minutes intervention, one weekSecondary outcomes
1
Hemodynamic response in cortical brain regions during balance tasks
Measurement of the changes in Oxy- and Deoxyhemoglobin concentrations (μmol/l) (baseline vs task condition), with the use of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), during the execution of balance tasks. The regions of interest are determinded based on the evidence of brain areas needed for postural control tasks in healthy individuals, and affected brain regions in children with DCD in a variety of tasks (frontal and parietal regions). The goal is to: (1) determine whether brain activity patterns can be an explanation of the movement strategies used during the single-training session; (2) determine the test-retest reliability of fNIRS during balance tasks in children. The NIRSport 2 (NIRx Medical Technologies, GE) with continuous wave imaging (760nm;850nm) is used.
Time frame
Baseline, one week2
Score on a comprehensive postural control measurement, Kids-BESTest-2
Score on the Balance Evaluation Systems Test for Children, second edition. The test consists of 6 domains. A score below 80% is the cut-off which corresponds to a postural control problem. The scores give an idea in which domain of postural control the problems are present.
Time frame
BaselineOther outcomes
1
Score on a general motor scale, Movement Assessment Battery for Children, second edition
The MABC-2 consists of 3 domains (manual dexterity, aiming and catching, balance) with a total of 8 tasks. The test gives a general idea about the motor develompment of children on different domains.
Time frame
BaselineSponsors and contacts
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Source ClinicalTrials.gov