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Gross motor skills in Navajo American Indian children one year or under
Insights
The Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) is not yet appropriate for Navajo infants. New normative data is needed for this population to ensure accurate gross motor skill assessment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Development
- Motor Skill Assessment
- Cross-Cultural Pediatrics
Background:
- The Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) is a tool used to assess infant motor development.
- Standardized developmental assessments require culturally relevant normative data for accurate interpretation.
- Previous research has not established the appropriateness of the WGME for the Navajo population.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the suitability of the Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) for assessing gross motor skills in Navajo infants.
- To compare the motor development scores of Navajo infants with existing WGME reference grids.
- To determine if gender influences WGME scores in Navajo children.
Main Methods:
- Eighty healthy Navajo children (41 boys, 39 girls) were evaluated at 4, 6, 9, and 12 months of age.
- The Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) was administered at Well Baby Clinics on the Navajo Indian Reservation.
- Statistical analysis, including the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, was used to compare scores and identify gender-related differences.
Main Results:
- No significant gender-related differences in WGME scores were observed among Navajo infants at any age.
- Navajo infants' scores did not align with the established WGME reference grids.
- At 4 months, Navajo infants scored higher than the Polish sample; at 6 months, scores were near the 95th percentile, and at 9-12 months, scores fell between the 15th and 65th percentiles.
Conclusions:
- The Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) requires new normative data specific to the Navajo infant population before it can be reliably used for screening.
- Current WGME grids are not representative of Navajo infant motor development.
- Further research is needed to establish culturally appropriate developmental assessment tools for diverse populations.
Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to gather information on the appropriateness of using the Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) with a Navajo population. Eighty normal healthy Navajo children (41 boys, 39 girls) were tested within 7 days of 4,6,9 and 12 months of age at Well Baby Clinics on the Navajo Indian Reservation. Total scores on the WGME were calculated for each age group. The scores of the Navajo boys and girls at each age were compared using a one-tailed Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test, a = .05, to look for gender-related differences at each age. No significant gender-related differences were found. The scores of the Navajo infants did not correspond with the existing WGME grids. Navajo infants appeared to score substantially higher than the Polish sample at 4 months. At six months the mean scores of Navajo infants fell just above the 95th %ile on the existing WGME grids but scores below the mean fell within the grids. At 9 and 12 months the of Navajo infants fell between the 15th and 65th %iles on the infants grids. These results indicate that normative data on the WGME would need to be gathered on Navajo infants before the test could be used for screening with that population.