Relationship between locomotive syndrome development and motor imagery ability in children

: This study aimed to investigate the relationship between locomotive syndrome (LS) development and motor imagery (MI) ability in children. The study included 212 children of elementary school age. We used a motor organ dysfunction checklist for LS testing and a mental rotation (MR) task to measure MI capacity. Based on the results of the LS assessment, the subjects were placed in either the LS-positive (38 subjects) or LS-negative (174 subjects) group. The number of males was significantly more in the LS-positive group than in the LS-negative group. Additionally, the average age, height, weight, and Laurelʼs index were higher and the inverse efficiency score (IES) during the MR task was lesser in the LS-positive group than in the LS-negative group. Logistic re-gression analysis revealed that after adjusting for gender, age, and body size, the IES ob-tained during the MR task was a significant explanatory variable for LS assessment. These results indicate that MI ability is a factor affecting LS development in children.