Dawaa Reference

chronic

Developmental Coordination Disorder

Treatment options, dosing, cautions and Egyptian brands from the shipped Dawaa Reference card.

Evidence status

Checked against the sources named below

Sources2 sources

ICPC-3 (WONCA International Classification of Primary Care, 3rd edition) class PS20.00 - condition scope only, no dose · No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified against1 document
  • No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Verified date2026-08

Presentation reference

Is it this?

Reference only, to read alongside your own examination.

Symptoms — what the patient reports (6)

  • Consider this in a school-age child with delayed milestones or academic struggles [developmental delay]
  • Children may pause writing for over 10 seconds at a stretch without the extra time improving the quality of what they produce
  • Though able to form sentences, the child struggles to translate thought into writing, which drags out the task
  • The child leans heavily on watching their own hand and needs extra time to complete motor tasks like handwriting accurately
  • Symptoms must have started early in development
  • The clumsiness gets in the way of daily self-care tasks, schoolwork, and play appropriate for the child's age

Signs — what you find (5)

  • Exam may turn up choreiform or mirror movements of the limbs along with other signs of poor coordination
  • The exam must show the incoordination is not explained by a separate neurological condition affecting the spinal, cerebellar, extrapyramidal, or peripheral nerve pathways [unsteadiness]
  • Movements take noticeably longer and are less accurate than in unaffected children
  • Motor skill attainment falls well short of what is expected for the child's age and prior practice
  • The motor problem cannot be better explained by intellectual disability, poor vision, or another neurologic or neuromuscular disease such as cerebral palsy [intellectual disability · paralysis]

Tests (5)

  • The DCDQ-R parent questionnaire carries evidence level 2 support for use in diagnosis
  • The DASH tool objectively times four aspects of handwriting speed: best copying, fast copying, writing the alphabet, and ten minutes of free writing
  • Standardized motor batteries such as the MABC-2 and BOT-2 measure motor competence, though their use is limited past adolescence
  • No lab or imaging test is specifically recommended for diagnosis, though thyroid testing or an MRI can help check for another or coexisting condition
  • Near-infrared spectroscopy of cortical activity during fine motor tasks is used in research into the condition

If not this — what else fits (2)

  • The list of look-alikes is broad, including cerebral palsy, ADHD, autism, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, sensory processing disorder, a learning disorder, anxiety, metabolic disease, epilepsy, and brain tumors
  • Findings such as skin birthmarks, visual problems, musculoskeletal abnormality, abnormal tone, weakness, ataxia, or unusual movements should prompt a look for another cause such as a tumor

SourceStatPearls "Developmental Coordination Disorder (Dyspraxia)" - disease-level clinical article

Presentation findings are traced to the source above.

1

NO DRUG THERAPY IN PRIMARY CARE (REFERRAL & ADVICE)

1st line
Adult dose and duration

Significant delay and impairment in acquiring gross and fine motor coordination skills in a child, causing clumsiness or slow, inaccurate movement; there is no drug treatment, so management is referral for occupational therapy/physiotherapy assessment and school support. - Refer, with advice

Paediatric dose

Children follow the same pathway: recognise and refer. No primary-care medicine is implied.

Dose source

No dose - referral pathway, no medicine given in primary care

Why

Significant delay and impairment in acquiring gross and fine motor coordination skills in a child, causing clumsiness or slow, inaccurate movement; there is no drug treatment, so management is referral for occupational therapy/physiotherapy assessment and school support.

Cautions
  • No medicine is prescribed for this in primary care - this entry is for recognition and referral. Anything given is decided by the service it is referred to.
  • RED FLAG - Loss of motor skills the child had already gained, which suggests a different, progressive neurological condition, or associated global developmental delay: refer for wider assessment.

Prices are indicative (dataset snapshot 2026-06); verify with the pharmacy.