Characteristics of upper limb movements in a sample of meningomyelocele children.

This study examined the movement characteristics of 41 children diagnosed at having meningomyelocele to whom 13 items from the Southern California Sensory Integration Test were administered. From factor analysis three factors of movement ability emerged. The first factor accounted for 40.1% of the variance and described a pattern representing both constructional and gestural apraxia. Factor II accounted for 16.2% of the variance and was indicative of bilateral coordination. The third factor accounted for 8.2% of the variance where it was observed that some subjects had ataxic-like movements which affected fine motor performance.