Locomotor and object control skills of children with intellectual disability in a developing country

Abstract

Introduction: The Philippines is one of the developing countries, as reflected in available opportunities for children with disability. Adapted physical activity (APA) programs are not systematically included in special schools’ curricula. One of the population-specific characteristics that are relevant in APA program development is proficiency in locomotor and object control skills. This study examined the use of a standardized testing procedure to characterize locomotor and object control skills among children with intellectual disability (ID) in the Philippines. Methods Participants include 70 children with ID, aged 9.29±2.66 years, who were tested on 10 components of the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (Ulrich, 2000). Locomotor components included run, hop, leap, horizontal jump and slide, while object control components are stationary dribble, catch, kick, overhand throw and underhand roll. Results Reliability analysis showed good internal consistency for locomotor and object control (Cronbach’s alpha=.86 and .76 respectively) components. Significant correlations were found for locomotor (r=.42-.69) and object control (r=.22-.63) components . Excellent inter-tester reliability was found for locomotor (ICC=.99), object control (ICC=.96) skills. Intra-rater reliability was also excellent (ICC=1.0). Age was found to have moderate positive associations with locomotor (r=0.353) and object control scores (r=0.509). Participants’ mean locomotor score of 22.94±10.07 is significantly lower than the full score of 40 (p<.001). The mean object control score of 19.87±7.69 is also significantly lower than the full score of 38 (p<.001). Discussion Locomotor and object control skills are phylogenetic (Burton and Miller, 1998), thus scores were expected to be positively associated with age. Because children with ID are known to have related motor impairments (Westendorp et al., 2011), participants were also expected to have significantly lower scores. Findings support these propositions, and suggest that the standardized testing procedure used in this study could be used for examining locomotor and object control skills of children with ID in the Philippines. Participants’ impaired skills proficiency suggests APA programs in special schools in the Philippines could include supportive training programs for locomotor and object control skills.