Down sendromlu ve normal çocuklarin antropometrik ölçüleri ve motor fonksiyonlarinin karşilaştirilmasi

Down Syndrome is the most common genetic disorder among chromosomal diseases. Individuals with Down Syndrome have physical and mental developmental delays. It significantly reduces motor skill levels compared to individuals with normal development. The main aim of our study is to compare the upper extremity and lower extremity anthropometric characteristics of children with Down Syndrome and those with normal development. Our other aim is to compare the functional levels of children with Down Syndrome and children with normal development by using functional scales for the upper and lower extremities. In addition, a study was carried out to reveal the effect of anthropometric features on functionality within the results. The study was conducted using anthropometric measurements and functional scales on a total of 101 children aged between 0-18, 25 with Down Syndrome and 76 with normal development in normal schools, in various special education centers. Student's t test statistical method was used in the analysis of the data. Significance values were determined as p<0.05, p>0.05. In our study, a statistically significant difference was found in some of the height, body mass index and anthropometric measurements (p<0.05). At the same time, no statistically significant difference was found in some of the lower extremity alignments and anthropometric features (p>0.05). A statistically significant difference was observed between little finger length, pes planus, arm front and back fat measurement, thigh and leg fat measurement with quality of life between children with Down syndrome and children with normal development (p<0.05). In our study, Rivermead Mobility Index and Berg Balance scale were used for lower extremity functionality, while Grip Skill test, Frenchay Arm test and Q-DASH scales were used for upper extremity functionality. The functionality of children with Down Syndrome and children with normal development were compared, and a statistically significant difference was found between the two groups (p<0.05). A statistically significant difference was observed between the correlation values between functional scales and muscle strength (p<0.05). As a result, it was concluded that the strength values and functional scale results of people with Down Syndrome were lower than those of children with normal development. It has been concluded that children with Down Syndrome can do their daily activities and movements more easily by increasing their strength values.