Cross-sectional study of executive functioning in children with developmental coordination disorders

BACKGROUND: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have multiple impairments in movement, in learning, and in the activities of daily living. Studies from other countries have associated these impairments with cognitive function, particularly executive functioning, but these findings have not been confirmed in China. AIM: Compare the executive functioning of children with DCD with that of normal children. METHODS: The Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) was administered to 39 children who met DSM-IV criteria of DCD identified at the Seventh People's Hospital of Hangzhou from March 2008 through March 2010. The WCST was also administered to a control group of 39 randomly selected children from one elementary school in Hangzhou. RESULTS: The total responses on the WCST and the number of non-perseverative errors for cases and controls were similar, but cases had significantly more errors, more perseverative responses and more perseverative errors; moreover, they completed fewer categories than controls and required more trials to complete the first category. CONCLUSION: Our study confirms previous studies which show significantly impaired executive functioning in patients with DCD. Collectively, these studies suggest that the deficits in executive functioning of children with DCD significantly impair their intellectual and social development.