Motion sense sensitivity of the ankle is abnormal and correlated with motor performance in children with and without a probable developmental coordination disorder

This study systematically examined ankle motion sense sensitivity and its relation to motor functions in children with and without a probable developmental coordination disorder (pDCD). Seventy-two children aged 10–11 years were recruited, including thirty-six children with pDCD and 36 age- and sex-matched typically developing (TD) children. Children placed their dominant foot on a passive ankle motion apparatus that induced plantar flexion of the ankle under nine constant velocities ranging between 0.15 and 1.35°/s. The adjusted movement detection time (ADT) to passive ankle motion was obtained to measure ankle motion sense sensitivity. The results showed that, in comparison to that in the TD group, ankle ADT was significantly increased by 22–59% for the range of velocities in the pDCD group. A correlation analysis showed that mean ADTs were significantly correlated with the manual dexterity (r = −0.33, p = 0.005) and balance (r = −0.24, p = 0.046) scores on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2) in the combined group. Similar correlations were found between the ADTs and the manual dexterity (r = −0.37, p = 0.028) and total motor (r = −0.34, p = 0.047) scores in the TD group. This study documents that ankle motion sense sensitivity to passive foot motion is reduced and is likely to contribute to poor motor performance in children with and without pDCD.