Relationship between the use of lower extremity orthoses and the developmental quotient of The Kyoto Scale of Psychological Development in children with Down syndrome.
Yoshihide Kanai, Hirotaka Mutsuzaki, Tomohiro Nakayama and 2 others
PMID 30154593WHAT IT FOUND
Children with Down syndrome who used lower limb orthoses had significantly lower Postural-Motor developmental scores than those who did not.
The study found an association, not that orthoses caused motor delays.
Key findings
01Participants who used an orthosis had a mean Postural-Motor DQ of 38.1 compared to 52.3 for those who did not.
02There were no significant differences in Cognitive-Adaptive or Language-Social DQ scores between children with and without orthoses.
03The study is retrospective and included a small number of cases, limiting its ability to prove causation.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective, meaning it looked back at existing records rather than tracking children forward in time. The sample size was small, with only 20 children using orthoses. The design cannot prove causation. It is unclear whether lower motor scores led to orthosis prescription or if orthoses affected the scores. The study did not control for other factors that might influence development, such as the severity of Down syndrome or other health conditions.
Declared interests
The work was funded by a grant from Ibaraki Prefectural University of Health Sciences. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that orthoses cause developmental delays in children with Down syndrome. This is an observational study showing an association, likely because children with more severe motor problems are prescribed orthoses.