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Updated: Jan 26, 2026
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Neurobehavior of preterm infants from 32 to 48 weeks post-menstrual age
Vivien Valente de Souza Perrella1, Barros Marina Carvalho de Moraes2, Adriana Sañudo3
1Division of Neonatal Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
Aim:
Evaluate prospectively the neurobehavior of preterm infants (PT).
Study Design:
Cohort of PT (gestational age(GA) <32weeks), evaluated biweekly from 32 to 48 weeks post-menstrual age (PMA) by NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS). Scores were compared by repeated Measures ANOVA. Scores of PT were compared to those of full-term infants, matched for gender by ANOVA.
Results:
39 PT (mean ± SD: GA 29.2 ± 2.0 weeks; birthweight 1100 ± 331g) were studied. As PMA progressed, PT showed increasing scores in habituation, attention, arousal, regulation, maneuvers for orientation, quality of movements and hypertonicity, and decreasing scores in excitability, lethargy, non-optimal reflexes, asymmetry, hypotonicity, and signs of stress/withdrawal. At 40 weeks PMA, PT were similar to term neonates assessed in the first days of life, except for less habituation, regulation capacity and excitability, and more hypotonia.
Conclusion:
At 40 weeks PMA, PT reached the performance of full-term neonates evaluated in the first days of life in most neurobehavior domains.
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