Avaliação da destreza manual em pessoas com síndrome de Down

Abstract

Children with Down syndrome (DS) show slower development when compared to normal population of same age, and also reveal handicap in oral expression, cognition and psychomotricity. The quantitative assessment of the motor performance on upper limbs in children with DS is important to design strategies of early stimulation and adequate therapeutic approaches to this population. The scarceness of quantitative information and instruments to evaluate hand dexterity has motivated this study, which aims to evaluate manual dexterity of children and adolescents (7, 8, 9, 14 and 15 years) with DS, using the Box and Block Test (BBT). Although not originally developed to evaluate this particular population, the BBT was chosen for providing a quantitative evaluation, centered on the motor dexterity without complex cognitive requirements. It is a cheap and easy-to-apply test that needs no training and is of easy comprehension even for mentally handicapped persons. The result of manual dexterity is given in blocks per minute (BPM) transferred inside a two-division standardized box. Fifty children and adolescents of both genders with Down syndrome (DS group DSG) and 50 normal participants (control group CG) took part in the study. The BBT was applied individually to each participant in his/hers own school or institution, in towns of São Paulo state, after approval of the Ethics Committee. The results showed a drawback in the manual dexterity in the DSG when compared to CG. There was no statistically significant variation on the manual dexterity of DSG between ages 7 to 9 years compared to 14 and 15 years (7y = 30 BPM, 8y = 29 BPM, 9y = 29 BPM); (14y = 32 BPM, 15y = 34 BPM), revealing that there is almost no improvement in manual dexterity related to age in this group. Conversely, in CG an age-dependent improvement was observed (7y = 63 BPM, 8y = 66 BPM, 9y = 68 BPM, 14y = 80 BPM, 15y = 81 BPM). Moreover, we observed differences in the way participants of DSG grip the blocks, using thumb and middle finger (36%) versus 4% in CG. We conclude that the Box and Block Test is an objective and efficient solution to quantify manual dexterity of intellectually drawback population for its fast and qualified information, and for the easiness of application and comprehension by the participants.