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Motor development of very low birthweight infants with chronic lung disease - a comparative study
1Department of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, Singapore.
Insights
Chronic lung disease (CLD) significantly impacts infant motor development, particularly in balance and sensory skills, necessitating close neurodevelopmental follow-up for affected infants.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Neonatology
Background:
- Chronic lung disease (CLD) is a common complication in premature infants.
- The long-term effects of CLD on neurodevelopment require further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of CLD on specific aspects of motor development in infancy.
- To assess motor development at 8 months and 24 months corrected age in infants with and without CLD.
Main Methods:
- Compared 29 infants with CLD and 31 controls using the Neurosensory Motor Development Assessment.
- Utilized chi-square and Student's t-tests for variable comparison.
- Calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) to measure CLD's impact.
Main Results:
- Infants with CLD showed significantly different overall developmental scores at 8 months.
- Persistent differences in postural balance and sensory motor skills were observed at 2 years.
- CLD significantly contributed to motor dysfunction at 8 months (OR, 7.4; 95% CI, 2.1-26.5).
Conclusions:
- CLD exerts a definite effect on infant motor development.
- The study highlights the need for neurodevelopmental follow-up for all infants with CLD.
- Early and persistent motor deficits underscore the importance of monitoring, regardless of other complications.
Introduction:
To determine whether chronic lung disease (CLD) influences specific aspects of motor development in infancy.
Materials And Methods:
Twenty-nine very low birthweight infants with CLD at 36 weeks' post-conceptional age and 31 infants without CLD were evaluated at 8 months' and 24 months' corrected age using the Neurosensory Motor Development Assessment. Perinatal and neonatal characteristics of the infants with CLD and control infants were compared using the chi-square test for categorical variables and Student's t-test for continuous variables. The relationship between CLD and adverse outcome was measured by the odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (CI).
Results:
The overall developmental scores of the CLD infants were significantly different compared with control infants at 8 months. By 2 years of age, both groups of infants showed marked improvement in motor performance. However, differences persisted in the area of postural balance and sensory motor skills. Taking periventricular haemorrhage and periventricular leukomalacia into consideration, CLD contributed significantly to the occurrence of motor dysfunction at 8 months of age [odds ratio (OR), 7.4; 95% confidence interval (CI), 2.1 to 26.5]. The impact of CLD on motor development remained substantial, though not statistically significant (OR, 3.7; 95% CI, 0.4 to 37.9) at 2 years of age.
Conclusion:
CLD has a definite effect on motor development. The pathologic influence of CLD on motor development remains speculative but results of this study emphasise the need for careful neurodevelopmental follow-up of infants with CLD, whether or not these infants suffer intraventricular haemorrhage or periventricular leukomalacia.
