Reliability and Repeatability of a Postural Control Test for Preterm Infants.

Area of Science:

• Pediatric neurology
• Developmental kinesiology
• Biomechanical analysis

Background:

• Assessing infant motor development is crucial for early detection of neurological dysfunction.
• General Movements (GMs) assessment is a key tool for predicting future motor outcomes.
• Novel methods for objective postural control assessment are needed.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reliability and repeatability of a new Posturometric Test (PT) utilizing Center of Pressure (CoP) movement analysis.
• To compare postural control parameters between infants with normal and abnormal General Movements (GMs).
• To investigate the influence of infant position (supine vs. prone) on PT reliability.

Main Methods:

• Infants were assessed using General Movements (GMs) assessment and Posturometric Tests (PT) in supine and prone positions using a force plate.
• PTs were conducted twice by two investigators to ensure reliability.
• Infants were categorized into groups based on GMs assessment: normal (n=18) and abnormal (n=19).

Main Results:

• Significant differences in spontaneous CoP displacement were observed between infants with normal and abnormal FMs during supine PT.
• All outcome measures demonstrated at least moderate reliability, with higher Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICCs) for supine PT compared to prone.
• Reliability (ICCs) was higher for infants with abnormal FMs than for those with normal FMs.

Conclusions:

• The new PT based on CoP analysis shows promising reliability for evaluating infant postural control.
• Altered postural control parameters identified through PT may be indicative of future neurological dysfunction.
• Further longitudinal studies in preterm infants are warranted to confirm the prognostic value of these postural control parameters.