Exploring objects with feet advances movement in infants born preterm: a randomized controlled trial.

Area of Science:

• Developmental Pediatrics
• Motor Development in Infants
• Early Intervention Strategies

Background:

• Healthy full-term infants reach for toys with their feet before their hands.
• Movement training has been shown to advance feet reaching in healthy infants.
• Feet reaching has not been previously studied in preterm infants, who may experience delayed hand reaching.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if preterm infants (born <33 weeks gestational age) reach for toys with their feet by 2 months corrected age, preceding hand reaching.
• To determine if movement training can advance feet reaching in this population.

Main Methods:

• A randomized controlled trial involving 26 preterm infants.
• Infants were assigned to daily movement training or social training groups for 8 weeks.
• Videotaped assessments occurred every two weeks from 2 to 4 months corrected age.

Main Results:

• All infants contacted toys with their feet at 2 months corrected age, before consistent hand contact.
• The movement training group showed significantly more and longer foot-toy contacts after 8 weeks compared to the social training group.

Conclusions:

• Movement experiences promote feet reaching in preterm infants, similar to hand reaching.
• Feet-oriented play may serve as an early intervention for object interaction in infants with movement impairments.
• Further research is recommended to explore the long-term benefits of early leg movement promotion.