Assessment of the sensorimotor integration development in primary school children from Wroclaw, Poland: a prospective observational study

Abstract

IntroductionSenses are essential in the development of psychomotor functioning in healthy 7-year-old children who enter school. The aim of the study was to assess the level of sensorimotor integration in children starting school education.MethodsThe study involved 82 children from primary schools. The first examination (T1) was carried out at the beginning of the 2018/2019 school year; the second examination (T2) was performed after a 6-month interval. The level of sensorimotor integration development was measured by the Southern California Sensory Integration Test (SCSIT) in 11 sensory categories.ResultsIn 10 out of the 11 SCSIT tests, the children obtained statistically significantly higher mean results after 6 months of education (T2) than at the beginning of the school year (T1) (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The scores achieved at T1 in SCSIT showed that the following risks of sensorimotor integration disorders were found most often: deep sensation disorders (kinaesthesia test) among 13.4% of the children and incorrect processing of superficial feeling (graphesthesia test) among 12.2%.ConclusionsThe beginning of early childhood education is a difficult period for children to adapt to school requirements. With 7-year-old children starting school education, attention should be paid to their potential difficulties related to abnormalities in deep sensation, especially kinaesthesia (orientation in the positioning of the body parts) and graphesthesia (ability to ‘read’ shapes).