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Inter- and intra-modal matching in very low birth weight and small for gestational age adolescents
Kari Anne Indredavik Evensen1, Hermundur Sigmundsson, Pål Romundstad
1Department of Laboratory Medicine, Children's and Women's Health, Faculty of Medicine, Norway. karianne.i.evensen@ntnu.no
Insights
Low birth weight adolescents without cerebral palsy or low IQ perform well in sensorimotor tasks. However, small for gestational age adolescents show deficits in non-preferred hand performance, suggesting intrauterine growth retardation impacts motor skills.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Pediatric neurology
- Motor control research
Background:
- Motor deficits in low birth weight (LBW) children may stem from sensorimotor integration issues.
- Previous research has not specifically assessed inter- and intra-modal matching in LBW populations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if adolescents born with low birth weight exhibit impaired inter- and intra-modal matching compared to normal birth weight peers.
- To identify specific sensorimotor integration challenges in different LBW subgroups.
Main Methods:
- A population-based follow-up study involving 14-year-old adolescents.
- Participants included very low birth weight (VLBW), small for gestational age (SGA), and reference groups.
- Manual matching tasks assessed visual (inter-modal) and proprioceptive (intra-modal) processing using preferred and non-preferred hands.
Main Results:
- VLBW adolescents, particularly those with cerebral palsy (CP) or low estimated intelligence quotient (IQ(est)), showed poorer inter- and intra-modal matching.
- SGA adolescents demonstrated reduced performance with their non-preferred hand in both matching types.
- VLBW adolescents without CP and with normal IQ(est) performed comparably with both hands.
Conclusions:
- LBW adolescents without significant cognitive or neurological impairments do not present major sensorimotor integration deficits.
- The non-preferred hand performance differences in SGA adolescents suggest a potential impact of intrauterine growth restriction on sensorimotor development.
Background:
Motor problems in low birth weight children may be related to problems in sensorimotor integration processes. Specific tests of inter- and intra-modal matching have not been used in low birth weight populations.
Aim:
Examine whether low birth weight adolescents have poorer performance in inter- and intra-modal matching than normal birth weight adolescents.
Study Design:
A population based follow up study of very low birth weight and small for gestational age children at 14 years of age.
Subjects:
Fifty-three very low birth weight adolescents (VLBW: birth weight < or =1500 g), 59 term small for gestational age (SGA: birth weight <10th centile) and 82 adolescents with birth weight > or =10th centile at term (reference group).
Outcome Measures:
Inter- and intra-modal matching was assessed by a manual matching task and results were presented for the preferred and the non-preferred hand in the visual (inter-modal) and proprioceptive (intra-modal) condition.
Results:
VLBW adolescents performed poorer in inter- and intra-modal matching compared with the reference group. However, the results were mainly due to a higher number of adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP) and a low estimated intelligence quotient (IQ(est)) in the VLBW group. SGA adolescents showed poorer performance with their non-preferred hand compared with their preferred hand in both inter- and intra-modal matching, whereas adolescents in the reference group and VLBW adolescents with normal IQ(est) and without CP performed equally well with both hands.
Conclusion:
VLBW adolescents with normal IQ(est) and without CP do not have major problems in inter- and intra-modal matching. The poorer performance with the non-preferred hand in the SGA group may suggest a specific effect of intrauterine growth retardation.
