City Research Online

Abstract

Background: Children with DCD experience poor motor and psychosocial outcomes. Interventions are often limited within the health care system, and little is known about how technology might be used within schools or homes to promote the motor skills and/or psychosocial development of these children. This study aimed to evaluate whether short, regular school-based sessions of movement experience using a commercially available home video game console (Nintendo’s Wii Fit) would lead to benefits in both motor and psychosocial domains in children with DCD.
Methods: A randomised cross-over controlled trial of children with movement difficulties/DCD was conducted. Children were randomly assigned to an intervention (n=10) or comparison (n=8) group. The intervention group spent ten minutes thrice weekly for one month using Wii Fit during the lunch break, while the comparison group took part in their regular Jump Ahead programme. Pre- and post-intervention assessments considered motor proficiency, self-perceived ability and satisfaction and parental assessment of emotional and behavioural problems.
Results: Significant gains were seen in motor proficiency, the child’s perception of his/her motor ability and reported emotional well-being for many, but not all children.
Conclusions: This study provides preliminary evidence to support the use of the Wii Fit within therapeutic programmes for children with movement difficulties. This simple, popular intervention represents a plausible method to support children’s motor and psychosocial development. It is not possible from our data to say which children are most likely to benefit from such a programme and particularly what the dose and duration should be. Further research is required to inform across these and other questions regarding the implementation of virtual reality technologies in therapeutic services for children with movement difficulties.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Hammond, James; Jones, Victoria; Hill, Elisabeth L.; Green, Dido and Male, Ian. 2014. An investigation of the impact of regular use of the Wii Fit to improve motor and psychosocial outcomes in children with movement difficulties: a pilot study. Child: Care, Health and Development, 40(2), pp. 165-175. ISSN 0305-1862, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/cch.12029 . This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited.
Publisher Keywords:	DCD, fitness, intervention, motor skill
Subjects:	R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC0321 Neuroscience. Biological psychiatry. Neuropsychiatry R Medicine > RJ Pediatrics > RJ101 Child Health. Child health services T Technology > T Technology (General)
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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