Adapted Taekwondo Training for Prepubertal Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder: A Randomized, Controlled Trial

Daniel Y T Fong,William W N Tsang,Ada W W Ma,Young-Hyeon Bae,Shirley S M Fong,Yoyo T Y Cheng,X Guo,Karen P Y Liu,Lily Yuen

doi:10.1038/s41598-018-28738-7

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of adapted Taekwondo (TKD) training on skeletal development and motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD). One hundred forty-five prepubertal children with DCD were allocated to either the TKD or control groups. Children in the TKD group participated in a weekly 1-hour adapted TKD intervention and daily TKD home exercises for 12 weeks. The primary outcome (delay in skeletal development) and secondary outcomes (Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) total impairment score, eye–hand coordination (EHC) scores, and a standing balance score) were measured at baseline, after the intervention and 3 months after the intervention. Skeletal development improved in both groups over time (p < 0.017). The TKD group had a significant delay in skeletal development at baseline compared to the control group (p = 0.003) but caught up with the controls at 3 months (p = 0.041). Improvements in the MABC scores were also seen in both groups across time (p < 0.017). Only the TKD group had a significant improvement in the EHC movement time at 3 (p = 0.009) and 6 months (p = 0.016). The adapted TKD intervention may be effective in improving the skeletal development and EHC movement time of children with DCD. For motor performance, the effect of maturation might be more profound.

Highlights

Regarding the EHC outcomes, only the TKD group had a significant improvement in movement time at 3 months (54.92 ms compared to the baseline value; 95% confidence intervals (CIs), 13.04 to 85.57; p = 0.009) and 6 months (56.27 ms compared to the baseline value; 95% CI, 10.82 to 100.74; p = 0.016)
The control group improved over time, which suggests that the effect of maturation cannot be ignored, the improvement was greater in the TKD group (0.74 years) than in the control group (0.55 years)
These findings suggest that TKD training could hasten the development of bone in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) and are consistent with the bone-strengthening benefit of TKD reported in previous studies[11,12], possibly because

Summary

Results

Baseline skeletal development data was treated as a covariate in the statistical analysis Both TKD and control groups demonstrated improvements in skeletal development (i.e., lesser delay in bone age) over time. When comparing to the baseline value, the TKD group’s MABC total impairment score improved by 3.52 points at 3 months (95% CI, 1.85 to 5.42; p < 0.001) and 4.79 points at 6 months (95% CI, 2.32 to 6.46; p < 0.001). Regarding the EHC outcomes, only the TKD group had a significant improvement in movement time at 3 months (54.92 ms compared to the baseline value; 95% CI, 13.04 to 85.57; p = 0.009) and 6 months (56.27 ms compared to the baseline value; 95% CI, 10.82 to 100.74; p = 0.016). No major adverse events were reported during the intervention or assessments

Discussion

Conclusions

Methods

Aims and features