Body Awareness in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Association With Balance and Trunk Control

Aim This study aimed to compare body awareness between the children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and healthy peers and examine the balance and trunk control based on body awareness of children with DMD. Methods Forty-two children with DMD (mean age: 10.02 ± 2.21 years) and 40 healthy peers (mean age: 9.53 ± 2.21 years) were included in the study. New York Posture Scale (NYPS) was used to determine the impairment of body awareness of children by obtaining the absolute difference of the scores given by the evaluator and the child. The balance and trunk control of children with DMD were assessed using the Pediatric Balance Scale (PBS) and Trunk Control Measurement Scale (TCMS), respectively. Results The median absolute difference in children with DMD (15.00 points) were higher than their healthy peers (10.00 points) ( p = 0.035). The median PBS and TCMS scores of children with DMD were 53.00 and 47.00 points, respectively. Significant negative correlations were found between impairment of body awareness and both balance (r s = −0.478, p = 0.001) and trunk control (r s = −0.661, p < 0.001). Conclusions This study demonstrated that ambulatory children with DMD have poor body awareness, which is associated with balance and trunk control. These findings emphasize to clinicians and researchers the importance of body awareness in the assessment and treatment of children with DMD.