Effectiveness of Cognitive Orientation to Occupational Performance intervention in improving motor skills of children with developmental coordination disorder: A randomized waitlist-control trial.

objectivesTo determine if Cognitive Orientation to Occupational Performance was effective in improving performance and transfer of motor learning in children with developmental coordination disorder (with/without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder); and whether outcomes were maintained three months post-intervention.

designRandomized waitlist-control trial (ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT02597751).

settingBC Children's Hospital, Vancouver, Canada. SUBJECTS: Thirty-seven children with developmental coordination disorder and 41 children with co-occurring attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (all 8-12 years), randomized to treatment or waitlist groups.

interventionsOne-hour of intervention once weekly for 10 weeks. MAIN MEASURES: (1) Canadian Occupational Performance Measure to measure self-perceived performance of motor goals (10-point scale); (2) Performance Quality Rating Scale to measure therapist-observed movement quality (10-point scale); and (3) Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency - 2nd ed. to measure overall motor skill ability/transfer of motor learning (percentile).

resultsBoth groups showed significant improvement (

conclusionIntervention was similarly effective for children with developmental coordination disorder with/without attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in achieving and maintaining functional motor goals, but only children with developmental coordination disorder showed transfer of learning to other motor skills.