Basic Motor Skills of Children With Down Syndrome: Creating a Motor Growth Curve

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

PURPOSE: To create a motor growth curve based on the Test of Basic Motor Skills for Children with Down Syndrome (BMS) and estimate the age of achieving BMS milestones. METHODS: A multilevel exponential model was applied to create a motor growth curve based on BMS data from 119 children with Down syndrome (DS) aged 2 months to 5 years. Logistic regression was applied to estimate the 50% probability of achieving BMS milestones. RESULTS: The BMS growth curve had the largest increase during infancy with smaller increases as children approached the predicted maximum score. The age at which children with DS have a 50% probability of achieving the milestone sitting was 22 months, for crawling 25 months, and for walking 38 months. CONCLUSIONS: The creation of a BMS growth curve provides a standardization of the gross motor development of children with DS. Physical therapists then may monitor a child's individual progress and improve clinical decisions.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)375-380
Number of pages6
JournalPediatric physical therapy : the official publication of the Section on Pediatrics of the American Physical Therapy Association
Volume32
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Oct 2020

Keywords

  • Down syndrome
  • motor development
  • motor growth curve

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