MOTOR DEVELOPMENT AND PSYCHOMOTOR TRAINING FOR CHILDREN, AGED 7 - 14 YEARS, WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE (CHD)

Abstract

PURPOSE: The motor development of children with congenital heart disease (CHD) is often deficient due to a lack of physical exercise. It was the aim of this study to evaluate such deficits in motor development and investigate if they can be reduced by a special psychomotor training program. METHODS: Between 1994 and 1996 three groups of children participated in an 8 month psychomotor training program, consisting of 1.5 hour weekly sessions. The sample comprised a total of 38 children between the ages of 7.2 and 14.4 years (10.4 ± 1.7 yrs). The 38 children presented with a variety of congenital heart diseases (spectrum: single ventricle to fully corrected heart defects). We used the body-coordination-test (KTK) for children (SCHILLING, 1974) to examine the motor development of the children before and after the program. RESULTS: The pre-test results demonstrate deficits in the motor development of the child-participants. According to the classification scheme of Schilling (1974) the complete KTK-motorquotient showed in the pre-test 2.8% of the children with good and 36.1% with normal motor development. 22.2% had moderate 38.9% sever motor disturbance. In the post-test 11.1% of the CHD-children could be classified with good and 50% with normal motor development, 8.3% still showed moderate and 30.6% severe motor disturbance. The results of the total KTK-motorquotient (GMQ) and its subtests (MQ1-4) improved significantly due to the program (GMQ from 83.0 ± 16.4 to 92.9 ± 18.2; MQ1 from 87.7 ± 15.4 to 94.0 ± 17.3; MQ2 from 91.1 ± 17.2 to 93.8 ± 16.3; MQ3 from 86.6 ± 18.3 to 97.2 ± 16.1; MQ4 from 82.3 ± 13.6 to 93.5 ± 16.5). CONCLUSION: The pre-test results showed that 63.2% of the child-participants suffered from deficits in motor development. The complete MQ improved significantly following the psychomotor training program, as demonstrated by the post-test, where 61% of the children were classified as having “normal motor development” or better. These results emphasise the need for special psychomotor training programs for CHD-children. Such programs should begin at an early age to avoid initial deficiencies in motor functional development and, if necessary, to catch up on movement experiences. Also, preventative strategies whose aim it is to integrate CHD-children in kindergarten and school sports and normal outdoor activity should be implemented to the fullest to counteract the effect of this cardiac diagnosis.