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Kinematic quality of reaching movements in preterm infants
Bjørg Fallang1, Ola Didrik Saugstad, Jens Grøgaard
1Oslo University College, Health Sciences, Physiotherapy Programme, Norway. bjorg.fallang@hf.hio.no
Insights
Preterm infants
Area of Science:
- Pediatric neurology
- Developmental pediatrics
- Infant motor development
Background:
- Minor developmental disorders in preterm infants are often undetected until school age.
- Early detection of motor dysfunction is crucial for timely intervention.
- Understanding early motor function in preterm infants is key to preventing long-term issues.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the organization of reaching movements in full-term and preterm infants.
- To compare motor development between high-risk and low-risk preterm infants and full-term infants.
- To identify early indicators of motor dysfunction in preterm infants.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal assessment of reaching behavior in preterm infants (n=63) at 4 and 6 months corrected age.
- Clinical assessments at 6 and 12 months of age.
- Kinematic analysis of reaching movements, focusing on velocity and movement units, with a compound parameter for movement quality.
Main Results:
- At 4 months corrected age, low-risk preterm infants exhibited more optimal reaching behavior than full-term and high-risk preterm infants.
- This early optimal reaching in low-risk preterm infants correlated with better overall motor and behavioral development in the first year.
- By 6 months corrected age, the advantage of low-risk preterm infants diminished, and high-risk preterm infants showed non-optimal reaching patterns.
Conclusions:
- Early reaching behavior in preterm infants can indicate developmental trajectory.
- High-risk preterm infants may develop non-optimal reaching patterns by 6 months, highlighting a need for monitoring.
- Early kinematic analysis of reaching movements offers insights into motor development and potential dysfunction in preterm infants.
Abstract:
Many preterm infants may experience so-called minor developmental disorders; however, in general, the problems in motor behavior are not detected until school age. To introduce therapies aimed at the prevention of these problems, we need to increase our knowledge of motor function and dysfunction at early age. The present study focused on the organization of reaching movements in full-term and preterm infants without cerebral palsy. The reaching behavior of premature infants (n = 63) was assessed longitudinally at the corrected ages of 4 and 6 mo. Clinical assessments were made at 6 and 12 mo of age. On the basis of the infant's morbidity during the early stay in the neonatal intensive care unit, the preterm infants were allocated into a high-risk and a low-risk group. Results from a previous study in full-term infants (n = 13) were included. Kinematics of reaching movements in supine position were measured, and the analysis focused on movement velocity and movement units. A compound parameter of kinematic variables was created, reflecting the quality of reaching movements. The present study showed that at the age of 4 mo, low-risk preterm infants showed more often optimal reaching behavior than full-term and preterm high-risk infants. This better reaching performance was related to a better general motor and behavioral development during the first year of life. At the age of 6 mo, the advantage of the low-risk group in reaching behavior had disappeared and a disadvantage in the form of nonoptimal reaching behavior of the high-risk group emerged.