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Motor development from 4 to 8 months corrected age in infants born at or less than 29 weeks' gestation
Tamis W Pin1, Tanya Darrer, Bev Eldridge
1The University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Insights
Very preterm infants show delayed motor skill development and atypical postures compared to term infants. This uneven progression, assessed by the Alberta Infant Motor Scale, highlights potential postural control issues in preterm babies.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Pediatrics
- Neonatology
- Motor Control
Background:
- Preterm infants often exhibit motor delays and atypical postures compared to full-term peers.
- Understanding early motor development is crucial for identifying potential long-term challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the motor development of very preterm infants from 4 to 8 months corrected age (CA).
- To investigate the relationship between early atypical postures and later motor development in preterm infants.
Main Methods:
- A longitudinal cohort study comparing 62 preterm infants with 53 term infants.
- Motor skills were assessed using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) between 4 and 8 months CA.
Main Results:
- Preterm infants displayed uneven motor skill progression across different positions compared to term infants.
- At 8 months CA, 56% of preterm infants could briefly sit without arm support, versus 90% of term infants.
Conclusions:
- Uneven motor progression in preterm infants may stem from imbalanced flexor/extensor strength and inadequate postural control.
- The Alberta Infant Motor Scale effectively identifies unique movement characteristics in preterm infants.
Aim:
Clinically, preterm infants show motor delay and atypical postures compared with their peers born at term. A longitudinal cohort study was designed to describe the motor development of very preterm infants from 4 to 18 months corrected age (CA). The study was also designed to investigate how the atypical postures observed in early infancy in the preterm infants might be related to their later motor development. Here we report the findings in early motor skills from 4 to 8 months CA.
Method:
Early motor skills were assessed in 62 preterm infants (32 males, 30 females, mean gestation 26.94wks, SD 1.11) and 53 term infants (32 males, 21 females, mean gestation 39.55wks, SD 1.17) using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS).
Results:
The preterm infants demonstrated different motor behaviours from their term peers, with an uneven progression of motor skills in different positions from 4 to 8 months CA. At 8 months CA, 90%of the term infants were able to sit without arm support, but only 56%of the preterm infants could maintain sitting very briefly without arm support.
Interpretation:
This uneven progression may have been due to an imbalance between the active flexor and extensor strength and hence inadequate postural control in these positions. The AIMS has also been shown to be a valid assessment tool to demonstrate unique characteristics in movement quality in the preterm population.
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