Impairment of motor skills in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in remote Australia: The Lililwan Project

Abstract

Almost of 10% of children with FASD has significant motor impairment. Evaluation of motor function should routinely be included in assessments for FASD, to document impairment and enable targeted early intervention.[Lucas BR, Doney R, Latimer J, Watkins RE, Tsang TW, Hawkes G, Fitzpatrick JP, Oscar J, Carter M, Elliott EJ. Impairment of motor skills in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders in remote Australia: The Lililwan Project. Drug Alcohol Rev 2016;35:719-727].

Gross motor performance in children prenatally exposed to alcohol and living in remote Australia

“…A total of 108 children (male 53%; Aboriginal 98.1%) with a mean age of 8.7 years (range 7.5–9.6 years) of 134 eligible children participated in the BOT‐2 motor assessments, providing a participation rate of 81.0%. Cohort characteristics have been previously reported and therefore are only briefly presented here in Table .…”

“…Motor performance was evaluated in 2011 using the BOT‐2 . A paediatric physiotherapist (BL) assessed Upper Limb Co‐ordination, Bilateral Co‐ordination, Balance, Running Speed and Agility, and Strength subtests, and an occupational therapist (RD) assessed Fine Motor Integration, Fine Motor Precision, and Manual Dexterity subtests.…”

“…The Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test‐Consumption (AUDIT‐C) is a standardised, validated, self‐report tool that estimates risk from maternal alcohol intake during pregnancy and was used as a proxy for PAE . The Total Score is derived from three questions that consider frequency of drinking, number of standard drinks consumed on a typical day and frequency of binge drinking (six drinks or more on one occasion).…”

“…We have previously reported the total motor performance scores for children in the Lililwan Project, conducted between May and November 2011, finding 9.5% of children with a diagnosis on the FASD spectrum had a significant motor impairment (i.e. BOT‐2 Total Motor Composite ≥2 SD below the mean) . Subsequent to the Lililwan Project, a supplementary manual and online software became available, enabling extraction of separate outcome data for gross and fine motor performance from the overall BOT‐2 motor data .…”

“…BOT‐2 Total Motor Composite ≥2 SD below the mean) . Subsequent to the Lililwan Project, a supplementary manual and online software became available, enabling extraction of separate outcome data for gross and fine motor performance from the overall BOT‐2 motor data . Such data have not previously been reported in the literature.…”