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New reference values for the Alberta Infant Motor Scale need to be established
K M W Fleuren1, L S Smit, Th Stijnen
1Department of Pediatric Physiotherapy, Erasmus MC Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. k.fleuren@erasmusmc.nl
Aim:
The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) is an infant developmental test, which can be used to evaluate motor performance from birth to independent walking. Between 1990 and 1992 Piper and Darrah determined reference values in a cohort in Canada. To our knowledge no study has been carried out to determine whether the Canadian data are representative for other countries. In the present study we aimed to establish whether the AIMS test needs new reference values for Dutch children.
Methods:
Motor performance of 100 Dutch children, aged 0-12 months, was measured using the AIMS test.
Results:
The mean percentile score of the Dutch children was 28.8 (+/-22.9, range 1-85). The percentile scores of the group were significantly lower than scores of the Canadian norm population (p < 0.001), whereby 75% of the Dutch children scored below the 50th percentile. These lower scores were not be explained by sex, racial differences or congenital disorders and were seen in all age groups.
Conclusion:
We conclude that new reference values on the AIMS test for the age group of 0-12 months need to be established for Dutch children. It is recommended that the need for new normative data is also determined in all other European countries.
