Motor dysfunctions in   preschool children with Autism   and its functional implications in life
Creators: name: Indian Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (Official Journal of IAP Chapter of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics)
Publisher: name: IAP Chapter of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics
Year: 2024

description: (10) April 2024 | Volume 2  |  Issue 2      Aadarsh Pvt. Ltd.Indian Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (Official Journal of IAP Chapter of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics)Abstract:Background:    Neurodevelopmental    disorders (NDD)   comprises   of   highly   heterogeneous group  of  diseases  characterized  by  impairments in  cognition,  communication,  behaviour,  and motor  functioning  as  a  result  of  atypical  brain development.  Standardization  and  development of  guidelines  for  motor  phenotyping  of  the motor abnormalities inASD, has not got enough attention when compared with their behavioural and   developmental   counterparts.   Hence,   the need  for  this  study  by  which  we  can  determine the common motor abnormalities sothat they are corrected at the earliest.Methods: A Cross -sectional study was conducted for a period of 10months after enrolling a total of 60 children in between age group 3-5 years of age who met the inclusion criteria by convenient sampling method. After entering their demographic details in  the  proforma,  diagnosis  was  made  using DSM-5 criteria and standard diagnostic tools and all ASD’s  were  selected. All  the  children  were subjected to PeabodyDevelopmental Motor Scale (PDMS -2) assessment to assess their gross motor and fine motor functions, and then WeeFIM was administered  to  assess  the  extent  of  functional impairment  in  their  daily  activities.  1-sample Binomial test was used to analyse WeeFIM and PDMS-2 scores in each subset in the total sample. Correlation between each subset in PDMS -2 and AuthorsLal.D.V.NairDr.Lal.D.V.Nair , Developmental & Behavioural Paediatrician,  Saveetha CDC, Department of Pediatrics, Saveetha Medical college, SIMATS, Thandalam,TN.Correspondence: drlaldv@gmail.comMotor dysfunctions in  preschool children with Autism  and its functional implications in lifeWebsite :Quick Response Code:DOI :Access this article online :https://ijdbp.inhttps://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10539962WeeFIM in the total sample and then only ASD children  was  done  by  using  t  -Test,  Levene’s equity of mean, C hi -square test.Results: In the present study 41 out of the total 60 (68.3%) ASD children were found to have motor impairments as seen by the Total Motor Quotient which was in the range of below average, poor and very poor in PDMS -2. Among the gross motor the commonest subset affected was object manipulation (34/60) 58.3%   followed   by   locomotion(48.3%)   and stationary (46%) whereas, in fine motor domain the  most  affected  subset  was  visual  -motor integration (35/60) 58.3% followed by grasping (35%).Among  all  NDD  children  the  functional significance  was  assessed  by  WeeFIM  which revealed self-care and cognition domains as the most  affected  and  even  though  the  gross  motor functions  were  the  most  affected  still  it  did  not affect functional mobility of the child . ASD and all  of  these  children  had  motor  impairments  as seen on PDMS -2 and in theday to day activities Indian Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics (Official Journal of IAP Chapter of Neurodevelopmental Pediatrics)the    most    affected    subdomain    was    eating followed  by  grooming  and  bathing  in  the  self -care domain.Conclusion: Hence in NDD’s like ASD  where  motor  dysfunctions  are  not  overtly present, if any functional impairment is present, we need to assess both the fine motor and gross motor  dysfunctions  in  detail  with  the  help  of  a standardized  tool;  find  the  domains  interfering with  functional  abilities  and  take  the  necessary corrective measures, so that we can improve the day -to-day functioning of the child.