Design:
A longitudinal-experimental study was carried out with a child population of 86 children aged 6 to 8 years old without excluding sex in a school group in Cordoba (Spain).
Participants:
Eighty-six apparently healthy children between 6 and 8 years of age were treated as prevention in balance and coordination motor skills at the Gema León physiotherapy clinic in Córdoba (Spain). The children were divided into three groups: 25 patients in the placebo group (group 1), 30 patients in the craniosacral therapy group (group 2) and 31 patients in the balance and coordination therapy group (group 3).
Primary outcome: A series of questions were asked to the children's parents in a virtual questionnaire on physical characteristics, previous health assessments and observations of their balance and coordination in front of their children. On the other hand, the school teachers examined neurobehavioral aspects of the students using the "Battelle Developmental Inventory" (BDI), which evaluates five areas of development (personal/social, adaptive, motor, communicative and cognitive) between 2 and 8 years of age. The results are assigned in age-adjusted percentages, classified as: low (0-49%), normal (50-79%) and high (80-100%). Low and high values are considered impairments in one or more of the areas evaluated.
Secondary outcome: Seven treatment sessions were carried out with the balance and coordination therapeutic exercise techniques (group 3) most frequently used for the treatment of these pathologies; seven sessions of craniosacral therapy (group 2) as corrective and preventive in possible alterations during infant neurodevelopment and finally seven sessions simulating craniosacral therapy on a placebo group (group 1) as a control of the treatments used.
The effectiveness values of the therapies were expressed as percentages of satisfaction with the classifications of 25 to 28% (apparent changes \< to half of the sample in each therapy group), 51 to 56% (apparent changes in half of the sample in each therapy group) and 100% (apparent changes \> to half of the sample in each therapy group). From the above, the absolute values of the sample in each therapy group are set as follows.
Data analysis:
The variables were expressed as mean, absolute and relative frequency. The chi-square test was used to analyze the differences between age ranges, balance and coordination problems versus physical therapy sessions performed, as well as the association between values of the Battelle scale of child neurodevelopment before and after the treatments. A confidence level of 95% was established, considering as statistically significant a value of p a value of p\<0.05 was considered statistically significant.
