{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,29]],"date-time":"2026-09-29T05:34:49Z","timestamp":1790660089527,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":58,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772496000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012107","name":"Waterloo Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["27665413"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["27665413"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012107","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012107","name":"Waterloo Foundation","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["27665413"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["27665413"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012107","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/100012338","name":"Alan Turing Institute","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100012338","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Department for Education through the Bradford Opportunity Area"},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100000265","name":"Medical Research Council","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["MR\/S037527\/"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["MR\/S037527\/"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100000265","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"National Institute for Health Research Yorkshire and Humber ARC","award":["NIHR20016"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["NIHR20016"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS One"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Approximately 5% of children are affected by a neurodevelopmental disorder of their sensorimotor skills. DSM-V and ICD-10, the two most widely used diagnostic systems, define this diagnostically as \u2018Developmental Coordination Disorder\u2019 (DCD) or \u2018Specific Developmental Disorder of Motor Function\u2019 (SDDMF), respectively. A diagnosis of DCD has been found to have a detrimental impact on a range of outcomes (e.g., health and education). It is therefore crucial that these children receive timely intervention. This is reliant, however, on effective assessment and support pathways. Research has shown there is great parental dissatisfaction, but there has been limited research exploring a clinical and education perspective. This study therefore aimed to understand barriers and facilitators for clinical and education practitioners in the pathway in a diverse district in the UK (Bradford).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Semi-structured interviews were completed with stakeholders across the pathway to identify barriers and facilitators to assessing, diagnosing, and supporting children with sensorimotor skill difficulties. Theoretical thematic analysis aligned to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation model of Behaviour change (COM-B) was used to analyse the qualitative data.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Interviews revealed many barriers in the DCD pathway related to\n                      <jats:italic>capability<\/jats:italic>\n                      (confusing terminology, inconsistent knowledge, inappropriate referrals),\n                      <jats:italic>opportunity<\/jats:italic>\n                      (resource constraints, DCD being considered low priority, and disconnected services), and\n                      <jats:italic>motivation<\/jats:italic>\n                      (overlapping job roles, a desire to consider those with difficulties not eligible for a diagnosis). No facilitators were consistently identified across interviews.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Families face multiple barriers to obtaining a diagnosis for their child through existing clinical pathways for assessment and support. These findings are unlikely to be unique to Bradford, due to international research highlighting these issues via parental interviews. These findings therefore may reflect challenges both nationally and internationally within DCD pathways. There is an urgent need for: (i) clear communication across different services (with consistency in terminology), and (ii) a more collaborative and integrated approach to assessment, diagnosis, and support in order to help these children thrive.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0343972","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,3]],"date-time":"2026-03-03T18:24:28Z","timestamp":1772562268000},"page":"e0343972","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["\u201cThe system is a bit broken\u2026\u201d a qualitative exploration of barriers in the pathway for diagnosing Developmental Coordination Disorder"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"21","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3990-1944","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Lucy H.","family":"Eddy","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nat K.","family":"Merrick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cara E.","family":"Staniforth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jade L.","family":"Jukes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Liam J. 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