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A comparison of the general movements assessment with traditional approaches to newborn and infant assessment:
Laurie M Snider1, Annette Majnemer, Barbara Mazer
1School of Physical & Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada. laurie.snider@mcgill.ca
Insights
The General Movements Assessment (GMsA) shows weak correlations with traditional infant tests, suggesting it measures a unique neurological construct for early cerebral palsy prediction.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal neurology
- Developmental pediatrics
- Clinical assessment
Background:
- General Movements Assessment (GMsA) quality is a key early marker for predicting cerebral palsy.
- Traditional newborn and infant assessments are widely used but may not capture all developmental nuances.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between the GMsA and established infant assessment tools.
- To determine the concurrent validity of the GMsA in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) survivors.
Main Methods:
- Prospective cohort study of 100 NICU survivors at preterm, term, and 12 weeks adjusted age.
- Concurrent validity assessed using correlation analysis between GMsA and traditional tests (TIMP, ENNAS, AIMS).
- Infants with congenital abnormalities or specific medical conditions were excluded.
Main Results:
- Low-strength correlations (r ≤ 0.25) were observed between GMsA and traditional tests at preterm and term ages.
- Correlations increased slightly (r = 0.25–0.50) by 12 weeks adjusted age.
- Traditional tests showed stronger associations with each other over time (r = 0.50–0.75).
Conclusions:
- The GMsA demonstrated limited concurrent validity with traditional assessments in this cohort.
- Findings suggest General Movements reflect a distinct neurological construct, as proposed by Prechtl.
- The GMsA offers a complementary perspective to traditional neonatal assessments for evaluating infant development.
Background:
Assessment of the quality of general movements (GMs) is an early clinical marker for prediction of cerebral palsy.
Aims:
To explore how the General Movements Assessment (GMsA) relates to traditional newborn and infant measures currently in use.
Study Design:
A prospective cohort design was used to examine concurrent validity of the GMsA in Neonatal Intensive Care (NICU) survivors (n=100) at three age points: preterm (34 weeks gestational age GA), term (38-40 weeks GA), and post term (12 weeks adjusted age [AA]) with traditional assessments (see below). Correlation analysis was used to determine the strength of the associations between tests at each age point.
Subjects:
Preterm infants born at
Outcome Measures:
Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP), Einstein Neonatal Neurobehavioral Assessment Scale (ENNAS), Alberta Infant Motor Scales (AIMS).
Results:
A low-strength relationship (r=or<0.25) was found between the GMsA and the traditional tests which increased across age points (r=0.25-0.50). Relationships between the traditional tests over time was characterized by stronger associations (r=0.50-0.75).
Conclusions:
Evidence of concurrent validity of the GMsA with traditional assessments was not found. These early findings support Prechtl's suggestion that GMs reflect a unique neurologic construct, different from traditional tests and reinforce the complementary perspective which the GMsA brings to neonatal assessment.
