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. 2020 Oct;32(4):375-380.
doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000000743.

Basic Motor Skills of Children With Down Syndrome: Creating a Motor Growth Curve

Peter E M Lauteslager  1 , M Chiel J M Volman, Timo Lauteslager, Marieke E Van den Heuvel, Joran Jongerling, Irene G Klugkist
Affiliations

Basic Motor Skills of Children With Down Syndrome: Creating a Motor Growth Curve

Peter E M Lauteslager et al. Pediatr Phys Ther. 2020 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: To create a motor growth curve based on the Test of Basic Motor Skills for Children with Down Syndrome (BMS) and estimate the age of achieving BMS milestones.

Methods: A multilevel exponential model was applied to create a motor growth curve based on BMS data from 119 children with Down syndrome (DS) aged 2 months to 5 years. Logistic regression was applied to estimate the 50% probability of achieving BMS milestones.

Results: The BMS growth curve had the largest increase during infancy with smaller increases as children approached the predicted maximum score. The age at which children with DS have a 50% probability of achieving the milestone sitting was 22 months, for crawling 25 months, and for walking 38 months.

Conclusions: The creation of a BMS growth curve provides a standardization of the gross motor development of children with DS. Physical therapists then may monitor a child's individual progress and improve clinical decisions.

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