Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32154876›Full record

ArticlePhysical therapy2020

Is Motor Impairment in Autism Spectrum Disorder Distinct From Developmental Coordination Disorder? A Report From the SPARK Study.

Anjana Narayan Bhat

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Physical therapy, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 143 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
143citing papers in PubMed, 11 pooled it
23.8field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

143 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 266 citations in OpenAlex.

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  18. Motor Disorders in Autism: From Comorbidity to Core Criterion.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research · 2026
    Review
  19. Predicting 18-month M-CHAT-R/F With PediaTracJournal of autism and developmental disorders · 2026
    Article
  20. Article

83 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.

Anjana Narayan BhatA.N. Bhat, PT, PhD, Department of Physical Therapy, University of Delaware, 540 South College Avenue, Newark, DE 19713 (USA); and Biomechanics & Movement Science Program, University of Delaware; and Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware.
South College · US

Funding

Subproject Title: Clinical Research Education, Mentoring and Career Development CoreU54GM104941 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE · PI Gregory E Hicks · 2013 to 2026
$60.5M
NIGMS NIH HHS U54 GM104941
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMotor impairments are pervasive in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD); however, children with ASD rarely receive a dual diagnosis of Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD). The Simons Foundation SPARK study engaged families affected by ASD through an online study.

objectivesThe DCD parent questionnaire (DCDQ) was used to assess the prevalence of a risk for motor impairment or DCD in children with ASD between 5 and 15 years of age.

designThis study utilizes parent reports from a large database of children with ASD.

methodsA total of 16,705 parents of children with ASD completed the DCDQ. We obtained our final SPARK dataset (n = 11,814) after filtering out invalid data, using stronger cut-offs to confirm ASD traits, and excluding children with general neuromotor impairments/intellectual delays. We compared DCDQ total and subscale scores from the SPARK dataset with published norms for each age between 5 and 15 years.

resultsThe proportion of children with ASD at risk for a motor impairment was very high at 86.9%. Children with ASD did not outgrow their motor impairments and continued to present with a risk for DCD even into adolescence. Yet, only 31.6% of children were receiving physical therapy services. LIMITATIONS: Our analysis of a large database of parent-reported outcomes using the DCDQ did not involve follow-up clinical assessments.

conclusionsUsing a large sample of children with ASD, this study shows that a risk for motor impairment or DCD was present in most children with ASD and persists into adolescence; however, only a small proportion of children with ASD were receiving physical therapist interventions. A diagnosis of ASD must trigger motor screening, evaluations, and appropriate interventions by physical and occupational therapists to address the functional impairments of children with ASD while also positively impacting their social communication, cognition, and behavior. Using valid motor measures, future research must determine if motor impairment is a fundamental feature of ASD.

Indexed as

AdolescentAge FactorsAutism Spectrum DisorderChildChild, PreschoolCommunication DisordersDatabases, FactualHealth SurveysHumansMotor DisordersMotor Skills DisordersParentsRisk AssessmentAutismChildrenDCDDiagnosisMotorTreatment

Identifiers

PMID32154876
PMCPMC7297441
OpenAlexW3010943938

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.