Neurobehavioural assessment of newborns

Twenty-one full term appropriate for gestational age (FT-AGA), 18 full term small for gestational age (FT-SGA), 18 preterm appropriate for gestational age (PT-AGA) and 15 babies who suffered birth anoxia constituted study subjects. They were subjected to neurobehavioural assessment using Brazelton neurobehaviour assessment scale. FT-SGA babies performed significantly poorly on motor and interactive processes only. No differences were found in terms of overall state organisation. PT-AGA also performed poorly on interactive and motor processes but were placed better than SGA babies. Here also no definite pattern was observed in organisational dimension. No significant effect of asphyxia on behavioural pattern of FT-AGA babies was observed when compared to FT-AGA non-anoxic babies.