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Spontaneous Orofacial Movements at Writhing and Fidgety General Movements Age in Preterm and Full-Term Infants

Regina Donnamaria Morais1, Ana Lucia Goulart2, Benjamin Israel Kopelman3

  • 1Premature Clinic, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Federal University of São Paulo (Unifesp), São Paulo 04023-060, Brazil.

Children (Basel, Switzerland)
|August 26, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Spontaneous orofacial movements are present in both preterm and full-term infants. However, these oral movements show greater frequency, intensity, and variability in infants at the fidgety age, regardless of birth status.

Area of Science:

  • Neurodevelopmental pediatrics
  • Infant motor development
  • Oral motor function

Background:

  • General spontaneous movements are crucial for identifying neurodevelopmental impairment in infants.
  • Understanding orofacial movements is vital for assessing oral function, especially in preterm infants.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To classify preterm and full-term infants based on general movement ages.
  • To record, describe, and compare spontaneous orofacial movements between these groups.

Main Methods:

  • Cross-sectional study of 51 preterm and 43 full-term infants.
  • Classification using Prechtl's method of general movements assessment at writhing and fidgety ages.
  • Video recording and quantitative analysis of spontaneous orofacial movements using The Observer XT software.

Main Results:

  • Poor writhing movements were more common in preterm infants (90.9%) than full-term infants (57.9%).
  • Positive fidgety movements were observed in all infants (100%).
  • Oral movements were similar across both groups, irrespective of their general movement stage.

Conclusions:

  • Spontaneous orofacial movements are present in all infants, both preterm and full-term.
  • These movements exhibit increased frequency, intensity, and variability at the fidgety age stage.
Abstract

Keywords:
child developmentgeneral movementsorofacial systempremature infants

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