Tablet-Based Game Can Assess Pediatric Visual Motor Skills in Autism

FRIDAY, Feb. 24, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- A tablet-based game is feasible for assessing visual motor skills in neurotypical children and those with autism spectrum disorder, according to a study published online Feb. 3 in npj Digital Medicine.
Sam Perochon, from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, and colleagues examined the use of a bubble-popping game administered on a tablet as an assessment of visual-motor abilities in young children. Participants included 233 children aged 1.5 to 10 years: 147 neurotypical and 86 diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, 32 of whom had co-occurring attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (autistic+ADHD). Game-based touch features were compared across autistic, autistic+ADHD, and neurotypical participants.
The researchers found that younger children with autism (aged 1.5 to 3 years) popped the bubbles at a lower rate, and their ability to touch the center of the bubble was less accurate than that of neurotypical children. In addition, their finger lingered for a longer period when they popped a bubble and there was more variability in their performance. For older children (3 to 10 years), greater motor impairment was seen in association with the presence of co-occurring ADHD, reflected by lower accuracy and more variability in performance. There were correlations seen for several motor features with fine motor and cognitive abilities.
"This simple yet informative tool has the potential of being deployed at scale to enhance detection and assessment of early autism signs and obtain objective and quantitative measures of toddler and school age children's visual motor skills," the authors write.
Related Posts
Infertility Tied to Male Breast Cancer Risk
WEDNESDAY, May 25, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The risk for breast cancer is...
La vacunación contra el VPH en la juventud reduce el riesgo de cáncer de cuello uterino en un 87 por ciento
JUEVES, 4 de noviembre de 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Mientras más pronto se...
Los días calurosos y con contaminación podrían duplicar el riesgo de ataque cardiaco
MARTES, 25 de julio de 2023 (HealthDay News) -- El calor extremo y el asfixiante...
Pandemic Having Major Impact on Pediatric Oncology Providers
MONDAY, Jan. 24, 2022 (HealthDay News) -- The COVID-19 pandemic is having a...