Gross motor deficits in cerebral palsy, autistic spectrum disorder, mental retardation, and Down syndrome children: A prevalence study

Abstract

Introduction: Gross motor skills are those which require the movement of the whole body and the involvement of the core stabilizing muscles of the body so as to perform activities of daily living and gross motor deficits refer to the lack of this coordination of muscles. Purpose: This study was conducted to contribute to the researches on gross motor coordination to provide systemic and appropriate physiotherapy guidance in children with motor deficits. Materials and Methods: We assessed the gross motor deficits in four different groups of children – cerebral palsy (CP), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), mental retardation (MR), and Down syndrome (DS), using the Charlop-Atwell scale. Forty children – 10 from each of these groups – were assessed. All children were between the ages of 6 years and 17 years. After the filling of these details and having received the consent of the child's guardian, they were asked to perform 6 different activities. These activities or categories were assessed both subjectively and objectively, and score was given on the basis of the Charlop-Atwell scale. These scores were then analyzed to get the results and draw conclusions. Results: The percent of motor deficits of CP was 65.56% followed by ASD, MR, and DS having 57.76%, 55.26%, and 38.98% motor deficits. Conclusion: CP showed the highest and DS children showed the lowest percent of motor deficits. There was a significant difference among the groups (P = 0.042).