Movement Strategies During Balance Tasks in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder

Case-Control Research of the Movement Strategies Used During Balance Tasks in Children With and Without Developmental Coordination Disorder

The main objective of the study is to gain insights in how children learn a balance task and whether there is a difference between children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder. Furthermore, the investigators are interested in the brain activity of these children while learning this new balance task.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Development Coordination Disorder; Typical Developed Children
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Single-session balance intervention in virtual reality

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 50
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Maja Van Grinderbeek; Phone Number: +32476332092; Email: maja.vangrinderbeek@uhasselt.be
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Katrijn Klingels; Email: katrijn.klingels@uhasselt.be

Study Locations

• Belgium
  • Limburg
    • Diepenbeek, Limburg, Belgium, 3590
      • Recruiting
      • Hasselt Univeristy, Faculty of Rehabilitation Sciences
      • Contact: Maja Van Grinderbeek; Phone Number: +32476332092; Email: maja.vangrinderbeek@uhasselt.be
      • Principal Investigator: Katrijn Klingels, Prof. Dr.
      • Sub-Investigator: Maja Van Grinderbeek, Msc
      • Sub-Investigator: Evi Verbecque, Prof. Dr.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

For children with DCD

• Children with the clinical diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) based on criteria of the DSM-5 (APA, 2013), diagnosed by a pediatrician.
• Children who have no formal diagnosis are evaluated by the research team using the diagnostic criteria as outlined in the inclusion criteria, these children will be included as "suspected of having DCD"
• Balance problems need to be present and objectified with the Balance Evaluation Systems Test for Children, second edition (Kids-BESTest-2). (total score below 80%)

For children without DCD

• Total score at or below the 25th percentile on the Movement Assessment Battery for children, second edition
• Normal postural control, objectified by the Kids-BESTest-2 (score at or above 80%)
• Match with children with DCD based on their sex, age and potential comorbidities.

Exclusion Criteria:

Presence of:

• Intellectual problems
• Visual problems
• Vestibular problems
• Neurological conditions
• Not able to follow instructions due to behavioral problems
• Refuse to participate

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: Learning of a new balance task in virtual reality; All children will perform a single training session (30 minutes) in a virtual reality environment, where one game will be played to challenge their balance. After one week, the children will play two games in the virtual reality environment to look at the retention (same game as first session) and transfer (similar game as first session).

Other: Single-session balance intervention in virtual reality; Single-session balance intervention (30 minutes) in a virtual reality environment, the Gait Real-time analysis Interactive Lab (GRAIL) or the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment (CAREN) in children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (Motek Medical, The Netherlands).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes in the center of mass velocity and acceleration after a single-training session in VR and after a one-week retention	Measurement of the movement strategies used by children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) during a balance task. The movement strategies are measured by looking at the center of mass velocity and acceleration during this balance task. The goal is to: (1) investigate whether there is a difference in the used strategies between baseline and after a single training session of 30 minutes; (2) see whether the changes stay present after a one-week retention; (3) see whether there are differences between children with and without DCD.	Baseline, after 30 minutes intervention, one week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Hemodynamic response in cortical brain regions during balance tasks	Measurement of the changes in Oxy- and Deoxyhemoglobin concentrations (μmol/l) (baseline vs task condition), with the use of Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS), during the execution of balance tasks. The regions of interest are determinded based on the evidence of brain areas needed for postural control tasks in healthy individuals, and affected brain regions in children with DCD in a variety of tasks (frontal and parietal regions). The goal is to: (1) determine whether brain activity patterns can be an explanation of the movement strategies used during the single-training session; (2) determine the test-retest reliability of fNIRS during balance tasks in children. The NIRSport 2 (NIRx Medical Technologies, GE) with continuous wave imaging (760nm;850nm) is used.	Baseline, one week
Score on a comprehensive postural control measurement, Kids-BESTest-2	Score on the Balance Evaluation Systems Test for Children, second edition. The test consists of 6 domains. A score below 80% is the cut-off which corresponds to a postural control problem. The scores give an idea in which domain of postural control the problems are present.	Baseline

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Score on a general motor scale, Movement Assessment Battery for Children, second edition	The MABC-2 consists of 3 domains (manual dexterity, aiming and catching, balance) with a total of 8 tasks. The test gives a general idea about the motor develompment of children on different domains.	Baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hasselt University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 18, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 27, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 27, 2025
• First Posted (Actual): January 30, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): September 16, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 15, 2025
• Last Verified: September 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Brain activity; Postural control; Movement strategies; Postural balance [Mesh]; Pediatrics [Mesh]; Motor Skills Disorders [Mesh]
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Motor Skills Disorders
• Other Study ID Numbers: B1152024000023

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No