Development and application of an electrical buzz wire to evaluate eye-hand coordination and object control skill in children: a feasibility study

Abstract

Purpose. There are many instruments to test children’s motor coordination, but the problem is that none of them evaluates accuracy and precision during motor tasks. Therefore, the aim of the study was to develop and test the applicability of electrical buzz wire (EBW) as an instrument for assessing eye-hand coordination and object control skill in children, as well as to delimit the mean time and errors in tasks involving speed and/or accuracy. Methods. The cross-sectional study involved 66 children (28 boys and 38 girls) aged 7–12 years. The variables evaluated were anthropometrics, hand dominance, and Movement Assessment Battery for children (MABc-2). The outcomes were time (s) and error ( n ) during 4 tasks while changing speed and wire loop size. Results. The ANOVA analysis showed statistically significant differences in the time variable [F(4, 502) = 8.6155, p < 0.001] and in the error [F(6, 502) = 69.209, p < 0.001]. The mean values of time and errors in each task were standardized after linear regression: 2.38 errors and 37 seconds in task 1; 3.2 errors and 35 seconds in task 2; 6.4 errors and 24 seconds in task 3; and 6.4 errors and 23.1 seconds in task 4. The error and time variables in EBW presented weak negative correlations with all MABc-2 domains. Conclusions. EBW was developed; the time and errors with a comfortable speed were lower than with a high speed, regardless of the difficulty level. Time and error values were also standardized in this age group.