The relationship between human figure drawing and visual-motor coordination in 6-year-old preterm children

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine the performance of preschool age children born prematurely in perceptual and visomotor tests. As prematurity has an impact on child's development it is important to evaluate the percepto-motor skills in this population. The participants of this study were 30 children, 20 girls and 10 boys, born with gestational age >; 34 weeks, recruited in a developmental follow-up program for preterm infants. The children were assessed with the Motor Accuracy test (AYRES, 1980), the Bender Gestalt (KOPPITZ, 1989) and the versions of the human figure drawing by Wechsler (1996) and by Ayres and Reid (1966). The results showed that the preterm children had age appropriated performance in all tests but the motor accuracy adjusted for time, which indicates that children born pre-term present are slower in tracing. There was a significant correlation between the two versions of the human figure drawing (Pearson r = 0,76) and between birth weight and motor accuracy (Pearson r = 0,36 e 0,41), moreover, none of the other correlations between the test were significant. These results are in contrast with the literature, which indicates that preterm children present lower performance in perceptual and motor tests. The poor correlation among the scores of the different tests and the signs of poor clinical utility lead to doubts regarding the validity of the instruments utilized in the study. It was concluded that there is a need to develop instruments with current norms for the Brazilian children, that will allow for more accuracy in test results.