A longitudinal study of age equivalent receptive communication and performance on functional outcome measures in congenital myotonic dystrophy

Abstract

Introduction: Children with congenital myotonic dystrophy (CDM) have communication and motor delays. It's not well studied how communication delays affect performance on functional measures such as four-stair climb (4SC), rise from floor (RFF) and 10-meter run (10MR). Methods: 49 participants with CDM were recruited in to three age-based cohorts. Motor performance was assessed in the two oldest cohorts using the 4SC, RFF and 10MR. Each participant's Age Equivalent Receptive Communication was calculated using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales-II. Results: The 10MR time improved by 6.5% over 12 months. Participant's chronological age suggested/showed significant weak-modest negative correlations for 4SC (r5 2.39, p=.032) and 10MR (r5 2.39, p=.034). There was no significant correlation between participants age equivalent receptive communication and the 10MR, 4SC, or RFF. Conclusion: Age equivalent receptive communication doesn't appear to correlate with performance/improvement on these measures. Perhaps suggesting performance on these measures is more closely associated with motor function/planning.