Comparing the Effects of Drug Therapy, Perceptual Motor Training, and Both Combined on the Motor Skills of School-Aged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children.

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of drug therapy, perceptual motor training and a combination of drug therapy and perceptual motor training on gross and fine motor skills of 6 to 12 year-old Iranian attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children. Thirty-six attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children currently under treatment in three Iranian psychological-neurological clinics participated in this research study. Participants were sampled from the accessible population and randomly assigned to three experimental groups (n = 12 each). The Conners Parent Rating Scale was used to classify the children and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was administered before and after a three month treatment/ training session. Participants in the first experimental group received drug therapy (including methylphenidate). In the second group participants took part in 18 sessions of perceptual-motor skill training for six consecutive weeks, and in the third group children received both interventions. The results indicated that interventions using perceptual-motor training alone or in combination with a drug therapy significantly improved both gross and fine motor skills over a period of six weeks. Participants in the drug-only group showed no improvement in motor performance.