Gross Motor Skills Research Articles

The relationship between social and gross motor skills in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Greece: implications for practice

Abstract Introduction: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder face significant difficulties in their social and motor development. Previous research has shown that motor difficulties associate and may predict social impairments in young children with the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Purpose of the study: The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between gross motor and social skills development of children with ASD between seven and eleven years old. Methods: A cohort of 31 children (21 boys-67.7%, 10 girls) with ASD, and mean chronological age 9.3 ± 1.4 years old, from four primary special education schools in Greece has been studied. Social skills were assessed, by the responsible classroom teacher, using the Educational Evaluation Tool for Social Skills (EET-SS) in children with autism developed by Apteslis et al. (2012) and the children’s gross motor development was measured, by the researcher, using the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-3) (Ulrich, 2019). Results: Data analysis revealed that there was a moderate correlation between children’s social and gross motor skills. Additionally, the developmental age children’s scores on one set of TGMD-3 skills, specifically the TGMD-3 ball skills, were found to be associated with the most of the EET-SS children’s scores. Implications & Conclusion: The study showed that children’s specific social skills were correlated with specific gross motor skills, such as the skills associated with object manipulation. The relationship between social skills and gross-motor skills in children with ASD should be taken into consideration when designing and implementing assessment practices and educational programs for children with ASD in order for the children to improve both their gross-motor skills and social skills, and ultimately the quality of their everyday functioning, inside and outside of school.

The international study of movement behaviours in the early years: A pilot study from Bosnia and Herzegovina

The World Health Organization (WHO) released guidelines for physical activity (PA), sedentary behavior, and sleep for children under 5 years of age in 2019, but there are no reports on the adherence to the guidelines in southeastern Europe. This study aimed to: (i) determine the proportion of preschool children (aged 3-5 years) who met the WHO guidelines and examine the feasibility of the proposed protocol for the SUNRISE study in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), and (ii) define sex-, and urban/rural-living-specifics in movement-behaviors, anthropometrics, gross-motor-skills, fine-motor- skills, and cognitive-skills. The sample comprised 115 preschool children (63 girls and 52 boys), residing in urban (n = 66) and rural areas (n = 49) from B&H. Participants were tested on movement behaviors (PA, sleep time, screen time) by accelerometry and comprehensive questionnaires. Body height, weight, body mass index, executive function, fine-, and gross-motor skill, and cognitive function were also measured. The results showed that PA-, sleep duration-, and screen time guidelines were met by 64%, 74% and 53% of children, respectively, while only 23% of the children met all three guidelines on movement behaviors. Boys exhibited higher PA than girls, but no differences in gross- and fine motor skills and cognitive functioning were recorded between the sexes. Children living in urban and rural environments did not differ in any of the studied variables. Results evidenced preschool children from B&H being in line with other samples globally about study variables. Although PA was higher in boys than in girls it was not translated to differences in motor skills. Further studies on larger samples and other environments are warranted.

Supporting Young Children's Physical Development through Tailored Motor Competency Interventions within a School Setting.

Background/Objectives: This study investigated how tailored motor competency (MC) interventions within a bespoke Scheme of Work (SOW) can support young children's physical development (PD) by enhancing fine motor skills (FMS) and gross motor skills (GMS). The objective was to enable children to meet curriculum developmental physical milestones. Methods: The longitudinal case study design was conducted over 19 weeks across three academic terms and focused on 25 children (12 boys and 13 girls aged between 5 and 6 years old). Interventions within the SOW were evaluated at six points to assess effectiveness and to make adjustments. Data collection included observations on FMS and GMS development. Results: Statistically significant improvements were observed in FMS and GMS after implementing the MC interventions. Notable improvements included hopping, running, climbing, kicking, catching, and using scissors (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The study underscores the importance of holistic approaches to PD, highlighting the need for early intervention and the crucial role of educators. The findings advocate for strategically planned MC interventions and practitioner observations to achieve longitudinal improvements in PD. The study recommends nationwide implementation to enhance PD outcomes, preparing children for lifelong and life-wide MC.

Impact of manual dexterity on toothbrushing efficacy in typically developing children: A cross-sectional study.

Manual dexterity includes gross motor skills (GMS) and fine motor skills (FMS). Literature reports manual dexterity as a contributing factor for improved oral hygiene and that the required dexterity for toothbrushing develops above 8 years of age. Research suggests grip force, movement speed, and motor coordination should be assessed to improve knowledge on kinetics of brushing teeth. To assess the impact of manual dexterity on toothbrushing efficacy in 7 to 12 year old children. The cross-sectional study included 150 typically developing 7-12 year old children. Oral health status was recorded using the Decayed, Missing, and Filled Teeth index. GMS and FMS were evaluated using the MInnesota Manual Dexterity Test (MMDT) and Archimedes spiral test (AST), respectively. Toothbrushing efficacy was determined by Turesky modification of Quigley-Hein Plaque Index- difference in mean scores from before and after toothbrushing. Assessment of GMS, FMS, and toothbrushing efficacy using ANOVA showed a significant increase with age (p value: 0.000); unpaired t-test showed an association of toothbrushing efficacy with GMS and FMS irrespective of age (p value: 0.000). Manual dexterity was significantly associated with toothbrushing efficacy in typically developing children. AST, a simple test to determine FMS, may help paediatric dentists to guide parents on the supervision of toothbrushing for their child.

Assessment of Gross Motor Skills in Ponseti-treated Children With Idiopathic Clubfoot at 3 Years Old: Insights from the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale 2.

Congenital talipes equinovarus, or clubfoot, can lead to lifelong functional impairments, including diminished gross motor skills (GMS), if left untreated. The Ponseti method corrects idiopathic clubfoot through casting and bracing. Given the importance of GMS in childhood development, this technique must be optimized to support childhood and long-term health outcomes. This study examined immediate posttreatment GMS in 3-year-old children treated with Ponseti, hypothesizing that they would perform on par with their nonclubfoot peers. Data from 45 children (33 to 46mo of age) treated for idiopathic clubfoot were analyzed. The Peabody Developmental Motor Scales, 2nd edition, was used to assess GMS, and logistic regression identified factors influencing Gross Motor Quotient (GMQ) scores. Approximately half (n=22) of the patients exhibited below-average GMS (11th to 25th percentile), with 11 scoring below the 10th percentile. Initial deformity severity, gender, and cast numbers did not impact GMQ. Repeat percutaneous tenotomy was associated with lower GMQs. Brace compliance significantly reduced odds of low GMQs by up to 80%. Age at testing and additional surgery were also linked to below-average and poor GMQs. GMS appeared to be impaired in almost half of the 3-year-old patients treated for idiopathic clubfoot, so our hypothesis was disproven. Repeat percutaneous tenotomy was associated with lower GMS, necessitating future recognition of patients who might be at risk of relapse. Brace noncompliance emerged as a significant risk factor, emphasizing early identification of these patients and education for their parents. This study offers a benchmark for clinicians and parents, but research on long-term outcomes is needed. Level II, prospective cohort study.

GMAC-A Simple Measure to Quantify Upper Limb Use From Wrist-Worn Accelerometers.

Various measures have been proposed to quantify upper-limb use through wrist-worn inertial measurement units. The two most popular traditional measures of upper-limb use - thresholded activity counts (TAC) and the gross movement (GM) score suffer from high sensitivity and low specificity, and vice versa. We previously proposed a hybrid version of these two measures - the GMAC - that showed better overall detection performance than TAC and GM. In this paper, we answer two critical questions to improve the GMAC measure's usefulness: (a) can it be implemented using only the accelerometer data? (b) what are its optimal parameter values? Here, we propose a modified GMAC using only the accelerometer data and optimize its parameters to develop: (a) a generic measure that is both limb- and subject-independent, and (b) limb-specific measures that were only subject-independent. The optimized GMAC showed better detection performance than the previous GMAC and surprisingly had comparable performance to the best-performing machine learning-based measure (random forest inter-subject model). In hemiparetic data, its performance was similar to the previous GMAC and the random forest inter-subject model; the limb-specific GMAC measure, however, had a better performance than the generic measure. The optimized limb-specific GMAC is a simple, interpretable alternative to a machine learning-based inter-subject model. The optimized GMAC can be a valuable measure for offline or real-time detection and feedback of upper limb use. The preliminary results of this study, based on a small dataset, need to be validated on a larger dataset to evaluate its generalizability.

Machine Learning Based Developmental Capability Prediction: A Diagnosis to the Learning Capacity Disorder for Specially-Abled Children

Specially-abled people are recognized and acknowledged for their issues such as hyperactivity, learning disorder, proprioceptive sensory issues, problems in self-help skills and problems in various motor skills such as Gross Motor Skills (GMS), Fine Motor Skills (FMS) and Oral Motor Skills (OMS), This study sought to identify effective machine-learning-based classification models to predict developmental capability disorders and thereby addressing of the learning disorder issue at opportune time. We have used machine learning classification algorithms Decision Tree, Random Forest, K-nearest neighbors, and Logistic Regression for the developmental capability prediction of individuals. The generalized progress monitoring datasets were carried out by interpreting and visualizing gender, age and disability-specific developmental competence. We have collected dataset from an occupational therapist for the study. The results of the study show that the Random Forest algorithm has a high accuracy of 95% compared to other algorithms that we have implemented.

Bioecological factors associated with gross motor skills of preschool children

ABSTRACT Motor skills during early childhood play a significant role in child development. We used the bioecological model to determine the bioecological factors associated with preschool children's gross motor skills (GMS). The GMS of randomly sampled 280 children were tested using a standardized checklist. The background variables theoretically framed in process, person and context characteristics were applied for multilevel logistic regression models. The children whose parents engaged daily in child-stimulating activities and who had family income above the mean were 2.3 times more likely to have normal GMS. Moreover, the children from the schools equipped with toys were 2.7 times more likely to be normal. Interestingly, the children who had teachers with higher degrees and more extended experience were less likely to be normal in GMS, demanding further exploration. Therefore, national child development policies and programmes should ensure parental support and the provision of motivated teachers.

Особенности образовательного потенциала дошкольников с РАС

The article substantiates that in order to build an effective variant of an individual development route for a child with autism spectrum disorders, it is necessary to know the level of formation of his/her educational potential. The profile of the formation of the educational potential of preschool children with ASD, according to the authors, contains 11 indicators. The specifics of developing a route map for preschoolers with ASD are conducted taking into account the identified parameters of educational potential. The purpose of the article is to study the formation of the educational potential of preschoolers with ASD to develop a variant of an individual development route. The proposed methods are designed for preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders and adapted by a group of authors from the Federal Resource Center for the Organization of Comprehensive Support for Children with ASD. The minimum level of development of basic communication and speech skills was revealed; at a low level of development – parameters of the game, the cognitive sphere: difficulties in processing information, violation of the formation of the child’s worldview. Such parameters of educational potential as ‘social behavior’, ‘perception’, ‘artistic and aesthetic development’, ‘fine motor skills’, ‘self-service’ and ‘maladaptive behavior’ are almost at the same level of being unformed. The most developed (at the level of partial formation) is an indicator for the development of ‘large motor skills.’ The findings highlighted the importance of developing individual routes for the development of educational potential in preschoolers with ASD to optimize the process of adaptation to society, effective learning, and self-realization as a socialized subject of society. Taking into account the dominance of the parameters of the child’s potential in the development, it is necessary to select technologies for support and training.

Associations of Monitor-Independent Movement Summary and Health-Related Fitness With Gross Motor Skills in Young Children

The purpose of this study was to determine the associations of device-based assessments of physical activity (PA) and health-related fitness (HRF) with gross motor skills (GMS) in preschool-aged children. Participants were 3- to 5-year-old children (N = 316; 49.6% female) who participated in the 2012 National Youth Fitness Survey. GMS was assessed using the gross motor quotient calculated from the Test for Gross Motor Development—Second Edition. PA was assessed using wrist-worn ActiGraph GT3X accelerometers with raw triaxial acceleration data summarized using monitor-independent movement summary units (MIMS). Analyzed metrics included average MIMS per day and peak 30-min MIMS. HRF assessment consisted of a plank score and a sum of skinfold assessment. Weighted hierarchical regressions tested the associations between PA, HRF, and GMS variables with a secondary weighted mediation analysis that examined whether HRF mediated the association between PA and GMS. Peak 30-min MIMS significantly correlated with GMS (b = 0.17, p = .005). Plank scores had the strongest correlation with GMS (b = 0.23, p = .004), and weighted mediation analyses revealed that plank scores partially mediated the association between peak 30-min MIMS and GMS (indirect effect = 0.03, p = .01, 23.1% mediation). Peak 30-min MIMS significantly associated with GMS in preschool children, an association partially mediated by core muscular endurance.

Developmental Profiles in Children and Young Adults with Alexander Disease

ABSTRACT Purpose The study aims to describe the developmental profile of children and young adults with Alexander disease [AxD] infantile form, analyzing their clinical features, adaptive behavior and neuropsychological skills. Methods Participants were eight children or young adults (Mean age = 11 years; SD = 6.86; range = 5–23) and their parents. A multi-method approach was adopted to assess participant competencies: (1) an online parent survey, (2) a semi-structured interview with parents, and (3) a direct assessment of the participant’s neuropsychological skills. Results Only four parents and their children completed all measures, and a common developmental profile could not be identified. The participants experienced substantial impairment in gross-motor skills, memory and narrative macrostructure. Most parents reported a regressive trend in at least one area. Conclusions The high individual variability and the regressive trend highlight the need for an accurate and periodic assessment of each individual’s developmental profile.

“Comparison of Gross Motor Outcomes Between Children With Cerebral Palsy From Appalachian and Non-Appalachian Counties”

“How could I apply this information?” Health care practitioners have suggested that many children from rural areas lack the resources to seek early identification and intervention services for a diagnosis of cerebral palsy (CP). This article did not identify a difference between the Appalachian and non-Appalachian groups for gross motor (GM) functioning; however, because both groups received services within the metropolitan health care system, this represents a limitation of the study. There are disparities identified in Appalachia, as stated in the purpose and within the literature review of this study. The authors suggest many families living in the Appalachian regions continue to have a higher risk of delivering a premature infant, have lower socioeconomic status, and a lack of resources and experience to ask their health care providers for referrals outside of their region. The pediatric physical therapist must continue to assist with identifying early signs of GM delay and provide education and resources to our families to seek interventions as early as possible for those infants born at high risk for CP. “What should I be mindful about when applying this information?” The authors, including Ms Blevins, the parent of a 2-year-old with CP, agree with the limitations of this study and the effect on the results as identified by the authors. She comments on her own child's difficulty in early identification of CP and the effect this might have had on his GM development had they not had availability of financial and interventional resources. She states, “I feel hospitals in Appalachia lack the resources and education of early identification and interventions that play a big part as to why many kids receive services later than maybe in a large city. For me, the signs were so clear that something was wrong but for whatever reason, they kept stalling. I also believe that we get the diagnosis later because of a financial strain on families. We had the privilege of being referred to specialists in our area like gastroenterology, cardiologist, and neurologist but nobody knew how to help and that's how we got sent to Cincinnati Children's. Most of our families would have just been left with unknown answers because of a financial strain to travel or the knowledge that they could seek other options.” This personal statement is in support of the authors' identified limitations. The limited sample size, and the sample taken only from a large metropolitan health care system, suggests that families in this study received services earlier than the many children in Appalachia. While this article is a beginning to identify GM skills within these 2 groups of children with CP, disparities remain among the Appalachian population. Lindsey Blevins, PTA Parent of a 2-year-old with cerebral palsy Marion, Virginia R. Bertie Gatlin, PT, DSc Associate Professor South College Knoxville, Tennessee Pediatric Physical Therapist Abingdon, Virginia

Improving gross motor skills of children through traditional games skills practiced along the contextual interference continuum.

Gross motor skills (GMS) are the foundation for humans reaching an optimum level of motor competence necessary to undergo normal development, maintain health, and achieve athletic excellence. Yet, there is evidence that GMS levels of children are on a decline globally. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of traditional cultural games (TCG) skills, practiced according to different amounts of contextual interference (CI), on the acquisition and retention of GMS. A total of 103 Pakistani primary school children aged between 7 and 10 years were recruited for this study. Participants were randomly assigned to four practice groups with different amounts of CI: Block (B) (low interference), gradually increasing (GI) (moderate interference), random (R) (high interference), and game-based (high interference). The Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD-2) was used to assess four tasks [overhead throw (OT), underhand throw (UT), catch (C), and throwing to a target]. The test was administered on four occasions: during pre-test, post-test, retention, and transfer. The results showed that the R group outperformed all the other groups in the post-test and the retention test. Meanwhile, in the transfer test, both R and Game-Based groups performed better than the B and GI groups. There were no differences between the R and Game-Based groups during transfer. Practicing TCG skills according to a random order was better for the acquisition and learning of GMS. The CI effect was evident, whereby high interference practice schedules were superior to low and moderate interference practice schedules.

The Effect of a Program Based on Educational Games with Extra-Curricular Activities in Developing Motor Skills for People with Autism Disorder

The current research goal is to:&#x0D; 1- Building a training program based on educational games with extra-curricular activities in developing motor skills for children with autism disorder.&#x0D; 2- To identify the effect of the training program on developing motor skills for children with autism disorder.&#x0D; The researcher relied on the experimental method in order to suit the variables of the current research, and to choose a single-group design with a pre- and post-test, the research community consisted of all children with autism disorder in government and private centers whose ages ranged between (5-7) years in the Erbil governorate center for the academic year ( 2020-2021), the number of The sample was (10) children, with (7) males and (3) females, as it was confirmed that the group members were homogeneous in all variables of homogeneity of height and weight, the economic, social, educational and cultural level of parents, adaptive behavior, as well as the performance of tribal motor skills. To verify the objectives of the research, the researcher prepared a note card to measure the performance of motor skills (fine and large), after reviewing previous studies such as (Al-Mufti, 2014), (Abdul Moneim, 2016), (Siyam and Omar, 2018) and (Al-Tahan, 2012). The card, in its initial form, consisted of (33) performance paragraphs represented by sub-skills, accurate and large, and after verification of honesty and stability, the total number of paragraphs became (31) The experiment was implemented by applying the (training program) consisting of (21) training sessions for a period of two months and specific with general and specific objectives, three sessions per week for a period of two months (8) weeks, in addition to (3) other sessions used to apply the tribal adaptive behavior scale, as well as to complete the homogenization procedures within The group and the application of the pre- and post-test. After collecting the data, it was analyzed and processed statistically. The results showed the following:&#x0D; 1- There are statistically significant differences between the pre and post measurements of total motor skills in favor of the dimensional measurement and application, thus rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative hypothesis, which indicates the effectiveness of the program.&#x0D; 2- There are statistically significant differences between the tribal and remote measurements of fine motor skills and large motor skills in favor of the dimensional measurement and application, thus rejecting the null hypothesis and accepting the alternative, and this indicates the effectiveness of the program. The researcher concluded that the use of the training program based on educational games in extra-curricular activities affected the development of motor skills for children with autism disorder.&#x0D; And that the size of the effect of the training program on the sample was very large in the development of total motor skills and the sub-axes (micro and large). In light of the results, the researcher recommended a number of recommendations, and made some suggestions that she believes will complement her current research in the future.

Are active video games useful in the development of gross motor skills among non-typically developing children? A meta-analysis

BackgroundProficiency in gross motor skills (GMS) lays the foundation for developing more complex motor skills. Improving these motor skills may provide enhanced opportunities for the development of a variety of perceptual, social, and cognitive skills. However, GMS development and intervention effects are not ideal for many non-typically developing children.ObjectiveTo systematically evaluate the effect of active video games on the development of gross motor skills in non-typically developing children and adolescents.MethodsSeven Chinese and English databases were searched for randomized controlled trials, and the risk of bias in included studies were qualitative evaluation according to the revised Cochrane risk of bias tool for randomised trials (RoB 2). Then a meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the overall effect of active video games on the development of gross motor skills in non-typically developing children.ResultsTwenty papers were included. In the three subordinate concepts of gross motor skills, active video games significantly improved locomotor skills [ SMD = 0.59, 95% CI (0.40, 0.77)] and non-locomotor skills [SMD = 0.51, 95% CI (0.20, 0.81)] in non-typically developing children. However, there was no significant difference compared with the control group [ SMD = 0.32, 95% CI (− 0.17, 0.82)] in object control skills.ConclusionsThe study shows that active video games can improve locomotor skill and stability skill in non-typically developing children, but the effect on object control skill is uncertain, and more high-quality literature needs to be included in the future.Trial registration The meta-analysis was registered on INPLASY (202,250,124) and is available in full on inplasy.com (https://inplasy.com/inplasy-2022-5-0124/).

ASSESSMENT OF THE DEGREE OF DEVELOPMENT OF LARGE MOTOR SKILLS IN CHILDREN OF THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF LIFE ACCORDING TO THE MUNICH SYSTEM OF FUNCTIONAL DIAGNOSTICS OF CHILD DEVELOPMENT

Educators, parents, and pediatricians do not pay enough attention to the development of large motor skills in children of the first three years of life, focusing on fine motor skills, but it is large motor skills that act as the basis on which the movements of small motor skills are superimposed as they grow up. In this regard, the purpose of this work is to identify the abilities that most often do not manifest in children in time. The article used the method of Munich functional diagnostics, 20 families with children aged 4 to 5 years were interviewed. This functional diagnosis will be of interest to specialists of psychological and pedagogical and medical profile working in clinics, outpatient clinics, medical and psychological and pedagogical rehabilitation centers, early development centers, as it is a reference point for the appointment of therapy, allows you to coordinate all rehabilitation activities taking into account development, so it is an effective tool for monitoring early child development. As a result of the work, individual abilities were identified, which should be paid more attention to in order to timely undertake the necessary psychological, pedagogical and therapeutic assistance. Close contact between parents and teachers will ensure success in the development and correction of impaired motor functions in children. It became clear the importance of improving the effectiveness of training future pediatricians in the skills of assessing the motor development of a child, which helps to increase their professional competence.

Effect of video games training on the gross motor skills of children with cerebral palsy: systematic review and meta-analysis.

The purpose of this work was to systematically evaluate the intervention effects of video games training (VGT) on the gross motor skills (GMS) development of children with cerebral palsy (CP). Seven Chinese and English databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, EBSCO) were searched. Data were retrieved from randomized controlled trials on the GMS among individuals with CP. The retrieval was from the inception of each database to March 16, 2021. The included studies were evaluated quantitatively using the PEDro Scale. Then, relevant data were inputted and analyzed in Review Manager 5.4. Thirteen papers were included: seven written in English and six in Chinese. In the three subordinate concept of GMS, VGT could significantly improve locomotor skills (LS) (standardized mean difference = 0.80, 95% confidence interval 0.55–105, P&lt;0.00001), and non-locomotor skills (NLS) (standardized mean difference = 0.83, 95% confidence interval 0.38–1.28, P=0.0003) in CP. However, there was no significant difference in object control skills (OCS), when compared with the control group (standardized mean difference = 0.55, 95% confidence interval -0.01–0.72, P=0.05). VGT can improve LS and NLS in CP, but the effect on OCS is uncertain; therefore, it is recommended that additional high-quality literature be included in the future. In general, VGT has been proven an effective intervention tool on the GMS development in CP.

A further study of relations between motor impairment and social communication, cognitive, language, functional impairments, and repetitive behavior severity in children with ASD using the SPARK study dataset.

Motor impairments are pervasive and persistent in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) throughout childhood and adolescence. Based on recent studies examining motor impairments in children with ASD between 5 and 15 years (i.e., SPARK study sample), 87-88% of this population is at-risk for a motor impairment, these problems persisted until 15 years, and related to their core (social communication skills and repetitive behaviors [RBs]) and comorbid (language, cognitive, and functional) impairments. Persistent motor impairments extending into adolescence/adulthood could negatively impact their independent daily living skills, physical fitness/activity levels, and physical/mental health. While multiple studies have examined relations between motor dimensions and core/comorbid impairments in young children with ASD, few studies have examined such relations in school-age children/adolescents with ASD. This paper conducts a further multidimensional study of which motor domains (i.e., gross-motor including visuo-motor or multilimb coordination/planning, fine motor [FM] or general coordination [GC] skills) best distinguish subgroups of school-age children/adolescents with ASD and help predict core and comorbid impairments after accounting for age and sex. Visuomotor, FM and certain GC skills were better at explaining variations in/predicting social communication impairments whereas FM skills were slightly better at explaining variations in/predicting RB severity. Multilimb coordination/planning and FM skills explained variations in/predicted cognitive delays whereas visuomotor and FM skills explained variations in and better predicted language delays. All three motor dimensions explained variations in/predicted functional delays. This study provides further evidence for inclusion of motor impairments within the ASD definition (criteria or specifiers). LAY SUMMARY: Gross-motor skills were related to social communication and functional delays of children with ASD (visuomotor skills related to language delays and multilimb coordination/planning skills related to cognitive delays). Fine-motor skills were related to repetitive behavior severity, language, cognitive, and functional delays in ASD. Diagnosticians should recommend systematic motor screening, further evaluations, and treatments for children at-risk for and diagnosed with ASD. Motor advocacy and enhanced public/clinical community awareness is needed to fulfill the unmet motor needs of children with ASD.

Impact of fetal haemodynamics on surgical and neurodevelopmental outcomes in patients with Ebstein anomaly and tricuspid valve dysplasia.

To evaluate the impact of fetal haemodynamics on surgical and neurodevelopmental outcomes in severe Ebstein anomaly and tricuspid valve dysplasia. Thirty-four fetuses with Ebstein anomaly/tricuspid valve dysplasia were referred from 2013 to 2019 for fetal echocardiography and clinical management. Nineteen fetuses with Ebstein anomaly/tricuspid valve dysplasia and 30 controls underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance to quantify the fetal blood flow and to calculate cerebral oxygen delivery (cDO2) and consumption (cVO2). The 3D steady-state free precession acquisition was used to measure fetal brain volume. Surgical outcome, brain MRI, and neurodevelopmental follow-up were reviewed. Twenty-six fetuses were live born (76%) and survival (65%) at a mean follow-up of 4 years. Nine fetuses had a brain MRI before discharge, and all had clinically silent injuries and volume loss. At 18 months, five single-ventricle patients had a neurodevelopmental delay in cognition and language (mean percentile: 11th), with gross-motor skills more affected than fine-motor skills (mean percentiles: 4th and 34th). Fetuses with Ebstein anomaly/tricuspid valve dysplasia had smaller brains, lower combined ventricular output, ascending aorta, superior caval vien and umbilical vein flows, lower oxygen saturation in ascending aorta and superior caval vien, lower cDO2 and cVO2 (p < 0.05). Superior caval vien/combined ventricular output and descending aorta/combined ventricular output ratios were lower in fetuses with circular shunt (p < 0.05). Fetuses requiring the Starnes procedure tended to have smaller brains, lower combined ventricular output, superior caval vien, descending aorta, and umbilical vein flows. All patients with Ebstein anomaly/tricuspid valve dysplasia are at high risk of neurodevelopmental delay and warrant follow-up. Fetal cardiovascular magnetic resonance revealed impaired brain growth with diminished cerebral blood flow and cDO2, the extenting dependent on the severity of the haemodynamic compromise.

An Interaction Path of Mothers' and Preschoolers' Food- and Physical Activity-Related Aspects in Disadvantaged Sicilian Urban Areas.

Background: The relationship between mothers and their children’s lifestyle is still unclear, especially in disadvantaged areas. Consequently, the study aims to identify a path explaining the extent to which maternal eating habits and physical activity (PA) level predict food-related aspects, PA practice and Quotient of Gross Motor Development (QGMD) in preschoolers from disadvantaged urban areas. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 79 dyads of mothers and children were recruited from kindergartens. Information related to family socio-demographic aspects, mothers’ and children’s dietary intake frequencies and PA/sedentariness, mothers’ weight and height, mothers’ perception on children’s food intake, and children’s food literacy (FL) was collected with a questionnaire and the Food Literacy Assessment Tool (preschool-FLAT), while gross-motor skills were measured with the Test of Gross Motor Development (TGMD); weight and height of children were directly collected. Results: Associations were found between mothers’ and children’s food habits; mothers’ and children’s fruit/vegetables consumption, and intake of the other items; mothers’ education or PA level and children’s FL; mothers’ PA or sedentariness and children’s QGMD; mothers’ BMI and food habits and children’s BMI; education and food habits. Conclusions: These findings can be useful to plan effective interventions targeted both to preschoolers and their mothers of disadvantaged urban areas for promoting healthy lifestyles, which have become increasingly difficult to achieve during COVID-19 pandemic.