Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 17, 2026
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Neurological assessment in infants discharged from a neonatal intensive care unit
Domenico M M Romeo1, Matteo Cioni, Filippo Palermo
1Paediatric Neurology Unit, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
Background:
Longitudinal motor assessment in infants at different neurodevelopmental risk has not been previously evaluated using structured assessments.
Aim:
To verify if the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE) is a good tool to predict the neuromotor outcome in infants discharged from a level II-III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) METHODS: In this cohort analysis, 1541 infants discharged from our NICU between January of 2002 and the April 2006 were enrolled and assessed using the HINE at 3, 6, 9, 12 months. At two years, these infants were further assessed, and grouped into infants with normal outcome (1150), with mild disability (321) and with cerebral palsy (70),
Results:
Correlation analysis of Spearman showed a significant (p < 0.0001) and moderate (r(2) = -0.55 to -0.73) negative correlation between HINE scores (3, 6, 9, 12 months) and neurological outcome at two years. Cut-off scores for each assessment' age were provided as predictive value for cerebral palsy.
Discussion:
This study mainly showed that HINE, as soon as the first months of life, helps in the process of prediction of neurological outcome at two years of age in a heterogeneous population of infants discharged from an NICU.
