The Effects of Neurodevelopmental Treatment-Based Trunk Control Exercise on Gross Motor Function and Trunk Control in Children with Developmental Disabilities

Good trunk control is essential for higher developmental stages as the trunk is activated first when movement occurs, providing stability for the head and extremities. To determine if neurodevelopmental treatment-based trunk control exercise (NDT-TCE) is effective in improving gross motor function and trunk control in children with developmental disabilities (DD). Twenty children with developmental disabilities were randomly assigned to the NDT-TCE (12 children) and control (8 children) groups. After the intervention; the NDT-TCE group showed improvement in GMFM (Gross Motor Function Measure; except for the GMFM-E dimension) and SATCo scores. The control group showed improvement in GMFM-A; B; C; and total scores; as well as static and active control of SATCo. The NDT-TCE group had a significant improvement in the GMFM B dimension and total score compared to the control group. The NDT-TCE group showed a significant improvement in static and active control of SATCo compared to the control group, but there was no significant difference in reactive control. The NDT-TCE intervention specifically improved GMFM-B and trunk control scores. Therefore, NDT-TCE can be applied as a trunk-focused intervention for children with DD who have difficulty controlling their trunk.