Evaluation of postural control in children and adolescents with down syndrome aged eight to twelve years old

Abstract

Introduction: Down Syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of the third copy of chromosome 21 (total or partial). The syndrome occurs in approximately one out of every 700 – 1000 newborns per year. Objective:To analyze postural control (PC) of children and adolescents with Down Syndrome (DS) and to compare differences regarding age, sex, nutritional status, and physical activity (PA) levels. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample composed of 21 children and adolescents (9 girls) was categorized according to age: G1 (8 to 9 years old; n = 8), G2 (10 years old; n = 7), and G3 (11 to 12 years old; n = 6), Score-Z: eutrophic (n = 9) and overweight (n = 12), and PA level: practitioners (n = 7) and non-practitioners (n = 14). PC was assessed in the force platform (FP), in the standing position, with feet together during 30 seconds. The variables analyzed were the center of pressure area (COP) and the mean velocities of anteroposterior and mediolateral oscillation (VEL-AP and VEL-ML). Shapiro-Wilk test was used to test the normality of data. Kruskal-Wallis, Dunn’s, and Mann Whitney tests were performed to analyze associations with PC. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05. Results: The median COP, VEL-AP and VEL-ML were 3.55 [2.13 – 6.82] , 2.81 [2.32 – 3.16], and 2.98 [2.42 – 3.43], respectively. There were no differences in PC regarding sex, body mass index and PA level. The adolescents in G3 presented lower values of VEL-AP (G1=2,88 [2,82 – 3,21]; G2= 2,94 [2,35 – 3,39]; G3= 2,27 [2 – 2,3]) and VEL-ML (G1= 3,22 [3,14 – 3,68]; G2= 2,91 [2,52 – 3,63]; G3= 2,34 [2,1 – 2,39]). Conclusion: Sex, nutritional status, and PA level did not affect COP area and AP-VEL and ML-VEL. However, strategies were affected by age, as observed by differences in velocity, but did not affect the COP area.

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“…The The permanent commitment of the journal JHGD to publish themes focused on healthy development inserted in the child and adolescent life cycle as the association of the prevalence of exposure to fluoride in the nails of children's hands with dental fluorosis [16][17][18] ; between delayed neuropsychomotor development and infants of street drug users 19 and the association of adequate growth with lipid profiles 20 .…”

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“…However, children in the DS and CP groups, besides intellectual impairment, had specific neuromuscular characteristics according to their pathology, which may have influenced more discrete results, but still significant for children with DS.According to the literature, DS is distinguished with a picture of global hypotonia25 and CP frequently with spasticity associated with hypertonia and hyperreflexia 5,26,27 , which directly influence motor and sensory skills such as motor coordination, balance, postural control, and spatio-temporal organization 6,[27][28][29][30]…”