Biomechanical quantification of children's gross-motor movement: scoping review protocol

Hammocks, Andrew; Price, Carina; Jones, Paul

Biomechanical quantification of children's gross-motor movement: scoping review protocol

Hammocks, Andrew; Price, Carina; Jones, Paul

Authors

Andrew Hammocks A.J.Hammocks@edu.salford.ac.uk

Dr Carina Price C.L.Price@salford.ac.uk
Associate Professor/Reader

Mr Paul Jones P.A.Jones@salford.ac.uk
Associate Professor/Reader

Abstract

Objective:
The objective of this scoping review is to identify and map the approaches of current literature in biomechanically quantifying the gross-motor movement of children.

Introduction:
Children continually learn new motor skills and progress towards mastery as they develop, resulting in varying movement patterns at different stages of motor competence. Despite this importance, literature relating to gross motor movements in typically developing children is minimal. Furthermore, there is no consistent method of quantitively assessing children’s movement and there has also been no synthesis on the methodological approaches used. Understanding the methods used previously will help to identify gaps and address weaknesses for future research.

Inclusion criteria:
Eligible studies for the review will feature primary sources of biomechanical measurements or comparisons of movement in healthy children, aged 3-12 years old, with no known conditions that may affect typical motor development. Qualitative studies will only be considered, if as part of a mixed-methods approach. Studies will be taken from any context, with a limit to articles published from 1990 until November 2023.

Methods:
This scoping review will follow the JBI methodology the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Data will be extracted from MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus (Elsevier), ProQuest, CINAHL (EBSCO), and Web of Science. The title and abstract of identified sources will be screened against the inclusion criteria to be progressed to full-text screening. The results will be presented in tables, figures, and a narrative summary.