Deficits in vision and visual attention associated with motor performance of very preterm/very low birth weight children.
For VP/VLBW preschoolers, motor delays stem more from neurological status than from visual or visual-motor deficits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team looked at preschoolers born very early and very small.
They wanted to know why these kids move more slowly than peers.
Doctors tested vision, eye-hand skill, and overall brain health.
What they found
Vision problems added only a tiny slice to motor scores.
Brain status mattered three times more than vision.
In short, weak muscles trace more to the brain than to the eyes.
How this fits with other research
Coetzee et al. (2013) seems to disagree.
They gave eight-year-olds with DCD weekly eye workouts.
After eighteen weeks, eye control jumped up to normal and stayed there for two years.
The gap is mostly age and diagnosis.
Dané’s kids were older, had DCD, and got training.
A et al.’s toddlers were younger, VP/VLBW, and got no training.
Whitehouse et al. (2013) backs the idea that vision can matter.
Blind school-age kids scored far below sighted peers on running and catching.
Together, the papers show vision helps older kids or those with pure eye loss, but brain issues drive delays in tiny VP/VLBW toddlers.
Why it matters
When a VP/VLBW preschooler stumbles, look past the eyes.
Refer for neuro or physio checks first.
Add vision training only after brain-based plans are set.
This saves time and gets the child moving sooner.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
AIM: To extend understanding of impaired motor functioning of very preterm (VP)/very low birth weight (VLBW) children by investigating its relationship with visual attention, visual and visual-motor functioning. METHODS: Motor functioning (Movement Assessment Battery for Children, MABC-2; Manual Dexterity, Aiming & Catching, and Balance component), as well as visual attention (attention network and visual search tests), vision (oculomotor, visual sensory and perceptive functioning), visual-motor integration (Beery Visual Motor Integration), and neurological status (Touwen examination) were comprehensively assessed in a sample of 106 5.5-year-old VP/VLBW children. Stepwise linear regression analyses were conducted to investigate multivariate associations between deficits in visual attention, oculomotor, visual sensory, perceptive and visual-motor integration functioning, abnormal neurological status, neonatal risk factors, and MABC-2 scores. RESULTS: Abnormal MABC-2 Total or component scores occurred in 23-36% of VP/VLBW children. Visual and visual-motor functioning accounted for 9-11% of variance in MABC-2 Total, Manual Dexterity and Balance scores. Visual perceptive deficits only were associated with Aiming & Catching. Abnormal neurological status accounted for an additional 19-30% of variance in MABC-2 Total, Manual Dexterity and Balance scores, and 5% of variance in Aiming & Catching, and neonatal risk factors for 3-6% of variance in MABC-2 Total, Manual Dexterity and Balance scores. CONCLUSION: Motor functioning is weakly associated with visual and visual-motor integration deficits and moderately associated with abnormal neurological status, indicating that motor performance reflects long term vulnerability following very preterm birth, and that visual deficits are of minor importance in understanding motor functioning of VP/VLBW children.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2016 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2016.02.008