Author: Michaele R. Smith, PT, Jerome V. Danoff, PT, PhD, and Rebecca A. Parks, OTR/L, MS
Source: Pediatric Physical Therapy, Summer 2002, Volume 14, Number 2, pp 74-84
This study records the performance of children five years old and younger on the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales. One hundred and forty-three children who were HIV+ were evaluated for both gross and fine motor skills. Their scores were compared to scores for age matched healthy children. Twenty-two children were re-evaluated three times at six-month intervals to see if their scores changed over time. The children who were HIV+ performed on average below the 50th percentile. These scores improved only slightly over eighteen months except for grasping and hand use which were similar to healthy children. The authors suggest that because this study demonstrates low performance in gross motor skills and eye-hand coordination and manual dexterity, therapists should emphasize intervention strategies to improve all these skills with children who are HIV+.
Click here for more information.
|
