Responsiveness of clinical and laboratory measures to intervention effects in children with developmental coordination disorder.

PURPOSE:To compare responsiveness of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 (MABC-2) and segment kinematics and center of pressure measures in detecting intervention effects in children with developmental coordination disorder. METHODS:Motion Analysis Laboratory (MAL) data from 21 children with developmental coordination disorder (mean age 11.0 years) in a randomized control trial were analyzed using effect size, minimal detectable difference, and parent and child report of meaningfulness (χ2 tests). RESULTS:The MABC-2 and MAL data showed moderate-large effect sizes (0.7-1.8). The MABC-2 detected large portions of children whose change exceeded the minimal detectable difference (47.6%-71.4%); MAL data detected small portions (0%-19.0%). Neither tool correlated well with meaningfulness (χ2 = 0.186-5.724; P > .10). Both tools detected change in the overall group; however, only the MABC-2 detected individual change exceeding potential measurement error. CONCLUSIONS:Although both assessment tools are responsive, they may be responsive to different types of change. Therefore, assessment constructs should be matched to intervention goals.