Fundamental Skills

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of cognitive rehabilitation and physical exercise on locomotor movement skill of children with DCD. Materials and Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental study with a pre-posttest design with a control group. 80 boys aged 6-10 years (mean age: 8.68±1.2) were selected from primary school students in Shiraz using multi-stage cluster sampling method and were randomly divided into three experimental and control groups. Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ7), Raven Intelligence Test and Movement Assessment Buttery for Children (MABC-2) were used to screen children and the Ulrich Gross Motor Skills Development Test (TGMD-2) was used to assess locomotor movement skills. Experimental groups performed the interventions for 8 weeks, Paired t-test and analysis of covariance were used to analyze the data. Results: The results showed that the locomotor movement skill score in the groups of cognitive rehabilitation, physical exercise and combined intervention from the pre-test to post-test stages increased significantly (P<0.05). While in the control group no significant difference was observed (P>0.05). Conclusion: Concomitant use of cognitive rehabilitation-related interventions with physical exercise is more effective in improving locomotor movement skill in children with developmental coordination disorders.