Author/Authors :
Gabbard ، Carl Child Motor Development Lab, Department of Health Kinesiology - Texas A M University , Sullivan ، Rachel Department of Health Kinesiology - Texas A M University , Albosta ، Meagan Department of Health Kinesiology - Texas A M University , Lee ، Jihye Department of Health Kinesiology - Texas A M University
Abstract :
Background/ Objective: This study surveyed the probable incidence of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD), a medical condition marked by poor motor coordination and clumsiness, in collegeaged students. Methods: A total of 4,014 individuals at Texas A M University, aged 1823 (40% males and 60% females), completed the Adolescents and Adults Coordination Questionnaire (AACQ) using Qualtrics, a webbased survey procedure. Results/ Conclusion: Results indicated that about 7% of individuals fell into the category of lsquo;probable rsquo; or lsquo;likely rsquo; to have DCD. Although marginal, age differences were found to be significant with participants below 20 years old having more difficulty (greater perceived clumsiness) than those 20 years and older. In regard to gender, 5 of the 12 total items were statistically significant with females having a greater proportion of perceived clumsiness than males in 4 out of the 5 questions. That is, females indicated more difficulty with gross motor skills, such as learning to drive or to ride a bike, whereas males indicated more difficulty with fine motor tasks, such as handwriting, and completing tasks requiring fine detail. Interestingly, the 7% clumsiness level found here is similar to the welldocumented level of 6% found in children; therefore, giving some credence to the likelihood that children may not lsquo;simply mature out of the condition. rsquo; This was a preliminary study and future research needs to examine actual (rather than perceived level) of DCD.
