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Updated: Jul 24, 2026
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
[High-risk factors for quality of general movements in infants]
Liang Ma1, Ling-Dan Meng, Chun-Hui Zheng
1Department of Pediatrics, The Affiliated Union Hospital, Binzhou Medical College, Binzhou, Shandong 256603, China. caoaihua@163.com.
Insights
Low gestational age, low birth weight, severe asphyxia, intrauterine distress, and hyperbilirubinemia are key risk factors for abnormal general movements (GMs) in infants. Early screening and intervention are crucial for preventing nervous system sequelae.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal neurology
- Developmental pediatrics
- Movement analysis
Context:
- General movements (GMs) are early indicators of neurological development in infants.
- Abnormal GMs can predict future brain dysfunction.
- Identifying risk factors is crucial for timely intervention.
Purpose:
- To identify high-risk factors associated with the quality of general movements (GMs) in infants.
- To analyze risk factors during the writhing and fidgety movement stages.
- To inform early screening and intervention strategies for infants.
Summary:
- A study of 618 infants in the writhing movement stage and 539 in the fidgety movement stage evaluated GM quality.
- Multivariate logistic regression identified low gestational age, low birth weight, severe asphyxia, intrauterine distress, and hyperbilirubinemia as significant risk factors for abnormal GMs.
- These factors were consistently associated with poor GM quality across different developmental stages.
Impact:
- Establishes specific risk factors for abnormal infant general movements.
- Highlights the predictive value of GMs for infant brain dysfunction.
- Supports the need for early screening and targeted interventions to mitigate long-term neurological outcomes.
Objective:
To investigate the high-risk factors for the quality of general movements (GMs), which has a predictive value for brain dysfunction in infants.
Methods:
A total of 618 infants in the stage of writhing movements and 539 infants in the stage of fidgety movements were selected separately for the evaluation of GMs. The high-risk factors for the quality of GMs in infants were analyzed by ANOVA, chi-square test, and multivariate logistic regression.
Results:
Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that the factors significantly associated with the quality of GMs in the stage of writhing movements were gestational age (OR=0.762, P<0.001), birth weight (OR=0.264, P<0.001), severe asphyxia (OR=2.445, P=0.012), and intrauterine distress (OR=4.865, P<0.001); the factors significantly associated with the quality of GMs in the stage of fidget movements were gestational age (OR=0.786, P=0.003), birth weight (OR=0.217, P<0.001), severe asphyxia (OR=3.765, P=0.001), and hyperbilirubinemia (OR=2.640, P=0.028).
Conclusions:
Low gestational age, low birth weight, severe asphyxia, hyperbilirubinemia and intrauterine distress are high-risk factors for abnormal GMs in infants, and early screening and intervention should be performed to reduce the incidence of abnormal nervous system sequelae.
