Early Motor Development in Children with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Abstract

Objectives: The study aim was to describe and evaluate early gross and fine motor development in young DMD children (0-5 years) in comparison with TD children, using different motor evaluation scales. Participants: Thirteen DMD and age matched TD children, between 11m-5y11m old, were tested with different motor evaluation scales. Results: Significant differences were found between scores of DMD and TD children on both gross and fine motor subdomains of Bayley-III (p = 0.0027) and PDMS-II (p = 0.0001). Both evaluation scales show lower scores on the gross motor subdomain in comparison with the fine motor subdomain. Another significant difference was found on the (Revised)NSAA (p = 0.0004) and MFM-20 (p = 0.001). For the TFTs only a significant difference was found in the subdomain “Rise From Floor” (p = 0.0006). No significant difference between DMD and TD children was found on the 3MWT (p = 0.06). Results of PUL-2 show significant differences between DMD and TD children on “PUL Shoulder” (p = 0.01) and “PUL Wrist” (p = 0.005). However, no significant difference was found on “PUL Elbow” (p = 0.10). Conclusion: Young DMD children score lower on both gross and fine motor skills compared with TD children. These early motor symptoms of DMD children should be recognized early in life, so diagnosis can be made earlier and treatment can be started on time.