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CompletedNCT05850169Updated May 9, 2023

The Effects of Creative Dance Therapy on Motor and Executive Functions in Children With Dyslexia

An interventional study of Creative Dance Therapy in Dyslexia, Dance Therapy and Motor Skills, sponsored by Ankara Medipol University. Completed at 1 site in Turkey. Open to participants aged 6 Years to 10 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2023-05-09.

Sponsored by Ankara Medipol University · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 3 years 8 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Aug 2019, registered Apr 2023).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
51
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
6 Years to 10 Years
Sex
All
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Study summary

Although some benefits of dance have been described for motor and cognitive skills, the effects on individuals with dyslexia are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of creative dance training on the motor and executive skills of children with dyslexia.

Read the detailed description

Although some benefits of dance have been described for motor and cognitive skills, the effects on individuals with dyslexia are unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of creative dance training on the motor and executive skills of children with dyslexia.

The randomized controlled trial was conducted between August 2019 and December 2020 in the Occupational Therapy Department of Hacettepe University. The sample consisted of 51 children with dyslexia aged 8-10 years. While 26 of the participants received routine literacy training, the other 25 also received creative dance training three times a week for 4 weeks. Motor functions were assessed using the "Bruininks-Oseretsky Motor Competence 2 Test- Short Form", and executive functions were assessedusing the "Executive Function and Occupational Routines Scale".

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Conditions studied

  • Dyslexia
  • Dance Therapy
  • Motor Skills
  • Executive Function

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03

In context

Dyslexia

124 studies on the registry are indexed under Dyslexia; 27 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 51 is below the median of 76 across 106 interventional studies indexed under Dyslexia.

Browse Dyslexia studies →

Lead sponsor

Ankara Medipol University is the lead sponsor of 55 studies on the registry; 12 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
6 Years to 10 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • an age between 6 and 10 years
  • a diagnosis of dyslexia according to DSM-V criteria
  • continued formal education in elementary school
  • participation in routine literacy training in a special education and rehabilitation center
  • voluntary participation in the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • having additional physical or psychological problem accompanying the dyslexia
  • using of psychotic drugs
  • participating in sports regularly.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Single (Investigator)
Enrollment
51 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    intervention group

    After completion of the initial assessments, the intervention group received 3 sessions per week of creative dance training for 4 weeks (12 sessions), with each session lasting approximately 40 minutes. The creative dance training took place in a 40-square-metre mirrored hall with a tatami mat on the floor. The training was conducted individually for each child in the IG. Different children's songs were selected for each session in harmony with the rhythm of the dance movements. In each session, 10 minutes of warm-up movements and 20 minutes of creative dance training were conducted, accompanied by songs. Meanwhile, materials such as spiky and heavy balls, ribbons, rhythm sticks and holihop were included in the application. The creative dance training was planned by diversifying the 8 movement models (breath, tactile, core-distal, head-tail, upper-lower, body side, cross lateral and vestibular) of "Brain Dance", which is a part of creative dance (Gilbert, 2002,2015).

    Other: Creative Dance Therapy

  • No intervention
    Control group

Interventions

  • OtherCreative Dance Therapy

    After completion of the initial assessments, the intervention group received 3 sessions per week of creative dance training for 4 weeks (12 sessions), with each session lasting approximately 40 minutes. The creative dance training took place in a 40-square-metre mirrored hall with a tatami mat on the floor. The training was conducted individually for each child in the IG. Different children's songs were selected for each session in harmony with the rhythm of the dance movements. In each session, 10 minutes of warm-up movements and 20 minutes of creative dance training were conducted, accompanied by songs. Meanwhile, materials such as spiky and heavy balls, ribbons, rhythm sticks and holihop were included in the application. The creative dance training was planned by diversifying the 8 movement models (breath, tactile, core-distal, head-tail, upper-lower, body side, cross lateral and vestibular) of "Brain Dance", which is a part of creative dance (Gilbert, 2002,2015).

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What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition Brief Form, (BOT-2 SF)

    Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency Second Edition Brief Form, (BOT-2 SF) was used to assess the motor functions of the participants. BOT2- SF consists of eight subdomains, including fine motor precision, fine motor integration, manual dexterity, bilateral coordination, balance, upper limb coordination, strength, speed and agility, and includes a total of 12 items (Bruininks, 2010). The test takes 15-20 minutes to complete. The higher score obtained from the test indicates a better performance in motor competence, and the highest score that can be obtained from the test is 72 points (Bruininks, 2010). The Turkish validity and reliability study of the BOT2-SF was conducted by Köse et al. (2018) on children with specific learning difficulties.

    Time frame: 20 minutes

  2. Executive Function and Occupational Routines Scale (EFORTS)

    Executive Function and Occupational Routines Scale (EFORTS) was used to assess participants' executive functions. EFORTS is a 30-item scale that measures the child's daily routine and consists of three factors: morning and evening routines, play and leisure routines, and social routine (Frisch \& Rosenblum, 2014). It is completed by the family and rated on a 1-5 Likert scale. A high score on each item indicates that the child performs better in an occupation that requires executive functions. The Turkish validity and reliability study was conducted by Akyürek and Bumin (2017).

    Time frame: 20 minutes

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Study locations

1 site
  • Cemre Bafralı
    Ankara, Altındağ 6050, Turkey
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References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 9, 2023, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05850169
Lead sponsor
Ankara Medipol University
Responsible party
Cemre Bafralı (Lecturer, Ankara Medipol University) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 9, 2023
Start date
Aug 24, 2019
Primary completion
Oct 7, 2019
Completion
Dec 24, 2020
Last update
May 9, 2023

Study contacts

Cemre Bafralı, Msc
principal investigator · Ankara Medipol University

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2023. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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