Perceptual-motor abilities in pre-school preterm children

Area of Science:

• Developmental Pediatrics
• Neuroscience
• Motor Control

Background:

• Premature infants often exhibit perceptual-motor deficits later in childhood.
• The Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC) 2nd edition assesses perceptual-motor skills from age 3.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess early perceptual-motor abilities in children born prematurely before age 4.
• To identify potential developmental delays in this population.

Main Methods:

• The MABC-2 was administered to 105 low-risk premature infants (<32 weeks gestation) and 105 matched term-born controls.
• Children were assessed between 3 and 3 years 11 months of age.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in total scores, Manual Dexterity, and Aiming and Catching were found between preterm and control groups.
• Lower MABC-2 subscores were observed in preterm infants born before 29 weeks gestation.
• A correlation between age at testing and performance was noted in the preterm group.

Conclusions:

• Perceptual-motor difficulties can be identified before age 4 in prematurely born children.
• Younger preterm children (3-3.3 years) showed more testing difficulties than older preterm children or term-born peers.
• Findings suggest a potential for delayed maturation in very young preterm infants.