Box and block test in motor dexterity evaluation to children and young people with Down syndrome

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate manual dexterity of children and adolescents(7, 8, 9, 14 and 15 years) with Down syndrome (DS), using the Box and Block Test (BBT). Fiftychildren and adolescents of both genders with Down syndrome (DS group – DSG) and 50 normalparticipants (control group – CG) took part in the study. The BBT was applied individually toeach participant in his/hers own school or institution, in cities of São Paulo state, after approvalof the Ethics Committee, from the Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie. The results showed adrawback in the manual dexterity in the DSG when compared to CG. There was no statisticallysignifi cant variation on the manual dexterity of DSG between ages 7 to 9 years compared to 14and 15 years (7y = 30 Blocks Per Minute, 8y = 29 BPM, 9y = 29 BPM); (14y = 32 BPM, 15y =34 BPM), revealing that there is almost no improvement in manual dexterity related to age in thisgroup. Conversely, in CG an age-dependent improvement was observed (7y = 63 BPM, 8y = 66BPM, 9y = 68 BPM, 14y = 80 BPM, 15y = 81 BPM). Moreover, differences were observed in theway participants of DSG grip the blocks, using thumb and middle fi nger (36%) versus 4% in CG.We conclude that the Box and Block Test is an objective and effi cient option to quantify manualdexterity of intellectually drawback population for its fast and qualifi ed information, and for theeasiness of application and comprehension by the participants.