OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of probable developmental coordination disorder and its risk, and the typical development in boys and girls aged from four to 12 years-old. METHODS: 1,587 children from South Brazil were evaluated by the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. The participants were divided into four age groups (G1, from four to six years-old; G2, from seven to eight; G3, from nine to ten; and G4, from 11 to 12). RESULTS: 19.9% of the children were identified as having probable developmental coordination disorder (percentile ≤5%) and 16.8% were identified at risk of such disorder (percentile ≤15%), based on the Movement Assessment Battery for Children. Significant interaction was found for the classification of the Movement Assessment Battery for Children between age group and gender (p<0.0001). The gender analysis showed a higher prevalence of Developmental Coordination Disorder in girls at the age groups G3 and G4 (p<0.05). Significant interactions were found for manual dexterity (p=0.0001), ball skills (p<0.0001), and balance (p<0.0001). Manual dexterity was responsible for the highest variances observed. CONCLUSIONS: The motor difficulties in manual dexterity robustly accounted for the diagnosis of probable and at risk developmental coordination disorder. Boys presented lower level of performance in the manual dexterity and balance tasks, while girls of all age groups had more difficulties related to ball skills. Higher levels of motor impairment were found in older children.
motor skill disorders; epidemiology; child development; primary prevention
