Nível cognitivo e transtorno do desenvolvimento da coordenação: estudo com escolares de 7 a 10 anos de idade

Abstract

Introduction: Children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) have difficulties learning motor tasks, which suggests cognitive alteration, but evidence about the relationship between motor performance and cognitive level are still inconclusive. Objective: To investigate the relationship between the cognitive level and motor performance of children 7 to 10 years old with and without DCD. Method: We evaluated 402 children from public schools with the motor coordination test, Movement Assessment Battery for Children 2nd ed. (MABC-2) and the cognitive test, Raven’s Progressive Matrices (Raven). Parents completed the Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire (DCDQ-Brazil), the Brazil Criterion for Economic Classification and a child’s health history. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and association, comparison and correlation tests. Results: Of the 402 children evaluated, 35 (8,7%) were identified with DCD. No difference was found in cognitive percentiles among children with and without DCD (p = 0,223), but there was a significant association between motor performance and cognitive level in the DCD group (p = 0,023), with a trend towards higher cognitive percentiles in the non-DCD group. There was a significant association (p = 0,009) between the global percentile in MABC-2 and Raven in the total sample. In groups with DCD, there was a significant negative correlation only between MABC-2 and age. Conclusion: There was a greater association between motor and cognitive tests’ scores than between DCD and cognitive level. The results reinforce the heterogeneous profile of children with DCD in both motor and cognitive domains.