Finger soaking enhances effects of light touch on reducing body sway in children with developmental coordination disorder

Objectives: To compare sensitivity to light touch in children with developmental coordination disorder and those with typical development. Also, to investigate how changes/increases in sensitivity to light touch influence the effects of light fingertip touch on reducing body sway in both groups, while controlling for the confounding effects of arm configuration. Methods: Twenty-six children with developmental coordination disorder and 26 typically developing children were enrolled in the study. To change/increase sensitivity to light touch, participants immersed their dominant index finger in a surfactant-water solution. Sensitivity to light touch was measured before and after soaking. Participants performed all conditions (no fingertip touch, light fingertip touch, and light fingertip touch after soaking) with the same arm configuration, while body sway was measured. Results: Analysis of variance (ANOVA) revealed that the children with developmental coordination disorder were less sensitive to light touch than typically developing children (p < 0.05). For both groups, immersing a fingertip in surfactant-water solution increased sensitivity to light touch (p < 0.05). Finger soaking enhanced the effects of light fingertip touch on reducing body sway only in those children with developmental coordination disorder (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Finger soaking can be used as a rehabilitation strategy for promoting sensitivity to light touch, as well as for enhancing the effects of light fingertip touch in reducing body sway in children with developmental coordination disorder.