Publications by authors named "B M Smits-Engelsman"
Background: Generalized Joint Hypermobility (GJH) offers flexibility that could enhance motor activities. However, if it leads to injury and pain, it increases functional difficulties and activity limitations. The far-reaching consequences of activity limitations and restricted participation include poor physical fitness and diminished quality of life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Rugby has not grown extensively in Africa compared to other continents, necessitating talent identification (TID) programs to recruit junior talent. However, it is unclear which physical characteristics and rugby-specific game skills to base the objective recruitment of potentially talented young players.
Objectives: This study profiled the physical fitness characteristics and rugby-specific game skills of schoolboy rugby players by playing standards to identify variables differentiating elite from sub-elite players from Under 16 (U16) to U19 age categories.
Article Synopsis
- Effective postural control is crucial for developing motor skills, but anticipatory control in children with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD) is not well understood, especially during complex tasks like the Can Placement Task (CPT).
- The study involved 23 children with DCD and 30 typically developing (TD) peers aged 9-12, observing their movements while balancing on one leg and repositioning a can, and measuring their center of pressure (COP) with force platforms.
- Results showed that children with DCD had a greater range of COP movement, higher velocity before movement initiation, and relied more on external support, indicating impaired dynamic posture control and highlighting the need for more trials to complete the task compared
Article Synopsis
- - This study analyzed proprioception differences in children aged 8-11 with varying levels of hypermobility, finding no significant differences in proprioception scores between hypermobile and normal mobile groups.
- - Four proprioceptive tests were conducted, including joint position tasks for both upper and lower extremities, with the most accurate position recall occurring at a 90° angle and when estimating wedge height in loaded positions.
- - Results indicated weak correlations between different proprioception tests, suggesting that outcomes for upper extremities do not predict results for lower extremities, and that loading conditions do not affect proprioception based on joint mobility.
Background: Purpose of this study was to determine what key aspects of function should be incorporated to make up a pre-intervention assessment profile of a child with Developmental Coordination Disorder (DCD); more specifically, what aspects of functioning are implicated in DCD and what is their relative impact?
Methods: A systematic review and meta-analysis were conducted, for which Pubmed, Web of Science, Scopus and Proquest were searched (last update: April 2023, PROSPERO: CRD42023461619). Case-control studies were included to determine point estimates for performances on field-based tests in different domains of functioning. Risk of bias was assessed, and level of evidence estimated.