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Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
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Concurrent and predictive validity of the infant motor profile in infants at risk of neurodevelopmental disorders

Riccardo Rizzi1,2, Valentina Menici2, Maria Luce Cioni3

  • 1Tuscan PhD Programme of Neuroscience, University of Florence, Pisa and Siena, Florence, Italy.

BMC Pediatrics
|February 7, 2021
PubMed

Insights

The Infant Motor Profile (IMP) accurately predicts neurodevelopmental disorders in infants at risk. This assessment shows strong validity and is a better predictor than the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS).

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal neurology
  • Developmental pediatrics
  • Clinical assessment validation

Background:

  • Infants born preterm or with perinatal brain injury have increased neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) risk.
  • The Infant Motor Profile (IMP) assesses early motor behavior complexity.
  • Further validation of IMP against established tools like AIMS and GMA is needed.

Purpose of the Study:

  • Evaluate IMP's concurrent validity with AIMS.
  • Assess IMP's association with General Movement Assessment (GMA).
  • Determine IMP's ability to reflect brain injury severity and predict NDD.
  • Compare IMP and AIMS in predicting abnormal outcomes at 5 months.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of 86 infants at risk for NDD from two clinical trials.
  • Infants assessed at 3 months corrected age (CA) with GMA, and at 5 months CA with IMP and AIMS.
  • Neurodevelopmental outcome determined at 18 months.

Main Results:

  • Strong concurrent validity between IMP and AIMS (ρ=0.76, p<.001).
  • IMP Total Score significantly associated with GMA and accurately reflects brain injury severity (p<.001).
  • IMP demonstrated higher diagnostic accuracy (AUC=0.92) and predictive ability for NDD than AIMS.

Conclusions:

  • IMP assessment of early motor behavior strongly correlates with neurodevelopmental outcomes.
  • Study confirms IMP's concurrent validity, association with GMA, and ability to reflect brain lesion load.
  • IMP is a valid and accurate tool for predicting NDD in at-risk infants.
Abstract

Keywords:
Alberta infant motor scaleInfant motor profileNeurodevelopmental disorder, general movement assessment

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