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. 2006 Oct 9:2:33.
doi: 10.1186/1744-9081-2-33.

Fine motor skills in South African children with symptoms of ADHD: influence of subtype, gender, age, and hand dominance

Anneke Meyer  1 , Terje Sagvolden
Affiliations

Fine motor skills in South African children with symptoms of ADHD: influence of subtype, gender, age, and hand dominance

Anneke Meyer et al. Behav Brain Funct. .

Abstract

Background: Motor problems, often characterised as clumsiness or poor motor coordination, have been associated with ADHD in addition to the main symptom groups of inattention, impulsiveness, and overactivity. The problems addressed in this study were: (1) Are motor problems associated with ADHD symptoms, also in African cultures? (2) Are there differences in motor skills among the subtypes with ADHD symptoms? (3) Are there gender differences? (4) Is there an effect of age? (5) Are there differences in performance between the dominant and non-dominant hand?

Method: A total of 528 children (264 classified as having symptoms of ADHD and 264 matched comparisons) of both genders and from seven different South African ethnic groups participated in the study. They were assessed with three simple, easy to administer instruments which measure various functions of motor speed and eye-hand coordination: The Grooved Pegboard, the Maze Coordination Task, and the Finger Tapping Test. The results were analysed as a function of subtype, gender, age, and hand dominance.

Results: The findings indicate that children with symptoms of ADHD performed significantly poorer on the Grooved Pegboard and Motor Coordination Task, but not on the Finger Tapping Test than their comparisons without ADHD symptoms. The impairment was most severe for the subtype with symptoms of ADHD-C (combined) and less severe for the subtypes with symptoms of ADHD-PI (predominantly inattentive) and ADHD-HI (predominantly hyperactive/impulsive). With few exceptions, both genders were equally affected while there were only slight differences in performance between the dominant and non-dominant hand. The deficiencies in motor control were mainly confined to the younger age group (6-9 yr).

Conclusion: An association between the symptoms of ADHD and motor problems was demonstrated in terms of accuracy and speed in fairly complex tasks, but not in simple motor tests of speed. This deficiency is found mainly in the children with ADHD-C symptoms, but also to a lesser degree in the children with symptoms of ADHD-PI and ADHD-HI.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Grooved Pegboard. A. The graphs represents the means ± SEM of the time used by the groups with symptoms of the three ADHD subtypes and the non-ADHD comparison group to complete the grooved Pegboard, as a function of gender. The left side graph illustrates the time used with the dominant hand, while the one on the right side represents the time to complete the task with the non-dominant hand. B. Illustration of the means ± SEM of the time used by the groups with symptoms of the three ADHD subtypes and the non-ADHD comparison group to complete the Grooved Pegboard task as a function of age. The left side graph shows the performance with the dominant hand, while the right side graph shows the time taken with the non-dominant hand.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Maze Coordination Task. A. The graph shows the means ± SEM of number of touches against the sides of the maze made by the groups with symptoms of the three ADHD subtypes and the non-ADHD comparison group as a function of gender. The left side graph shows the performance with the dominant hand, while the right side graph shows the number of touches with the non-dominant hand. B. The graph shows the means ± SEM of the number of touches against the sides of the maze made by the groups with symptoms of the three ADHD subtypes and the non-ADHD comparison group as a function of age. The left side graph shows the performance with the dominant hand, while the right side graph shows the results with the non-dominant hand.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Finger Tapping Test. A. The means ± SEM of the number of presses are illustrated for the groups with symptoms of the three ADHD subtypes and the non-ADHD comparison group. The left hand graph shows the number of presses with the dominant hand while the right hand graph shows the performance with the non-dominant hand as a function of gender. B. The means ± SEM of the number of presses are depicted for the groups with symptoms of the three ADHD subtypes and the non-ADHD comparison group as a function of age. The left side graph shows the performance with the dominant hand and the right side graph with the non-dominant hand.
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