Differences in the fine motor performance of children in Hong Kong and the United States on the Bruininks-Oseretsky test of motor proficiency

Objective: Cross-cultural differences in motor development is an important issue for occupational therapists to address in the assessment process. The cultural variability of performance in scores interpretation can mislead therapists in their decisions regarding the need for intervention. This study aimed to investigate the differences in fine motor performance on the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency (BOTMP) between school-aged children of Hong Kong and the United States. Methods: The four fine motor subtests of the BOTMP were administered to a random sample of 264 Hong Kong children aged 6-10 years. The performance scores of participants were compared with those of the American normative samples. Results: No significant difference was found in the scores between the two groups in Upper Limb Coordination and Response Speed subtests. However, the Hong Kong children performed significantly better in the subtests of Visual-Motor Control and Upper Limb Speed and Dexterity. In addition, significant gender difference was also present in all subtest scores except for the subtest of Upper Limb Speed and Dexterity. Conclusion: The results suggest that occupational therapists should be cautious of cross-cultural differences when interpreting fine motor performance scores using the BOTMP for Hong Kong school-aged children.