Short report on a 6-week at-home exergaming intervention to improve balance in children with developmental coordination disorder

Harkness-Armstrong, C, Hodson-Tole, E ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1200-1724, Wood, G ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0851-7090 and Mills, R ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3249-7539 (2025) Short report on a 6-week at-home exergaming intervention to improve balance in children with developmental coordination disorder. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 156. 104900. ISSN 0891-4222

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Abstract

Background Previous studies have evidenced balance training for improving postural control in children with DCD, however none have examined how neuromuscular mechanisms controlling balance might be improved with training. Aims To assess the neuromuscular control of balance before and after training in children with DCD. Methods and procedures Eleven children with DCD completed a six-week, game-based intervention to train balance, and lower-limb and core strength. Six children with DCD formed the control group. Stepping behaviour, centre of mass variability, centre of pressure area, and postural muscle onset latencies, using a continuous oscillating platform paradigm, were assessed at baseline, immediately-post and six-week-post intervention. Outcomes and results Both groups showed improvement in the oscillating platform task, indicating a learning effect. However, only the training group showed improvements in MABC-2 balance percentile scores from baseline (p = 0.008). Conclusions and implications These findings suggest that children with DCD can learn through repeated exposure to challenging situations, regardless whether training is given. However, only the training group were able to transfer these improvements to the MABC-2 balance assessment. This may suggest the intervention exposed children to increased movement variations which could be transferred to a different task.