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Motor Development Comparison between Preterm and Full-Term Infants Using Alberta Infant Motor Scale
Jooyeon Ko1,2, Hyun Kyoon Lim3,4
1Department of Physical Therapy, Daegu Health College, Daegu 41453, Republic of Korea.
Insights
The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) effectively identifies motor delays in preterm infants by 4 months. Significant differences emerge between preterm and full-term infants
Area of Science:
- Pediatrics
- Developmental Neuroscience
- Infant Motor Development
Background:
- The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) is a key tool for assessing infant motor development up to 18 months.
- Early identification of motor delays in preterm infants is crucial for timely intervention.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the efficacy of the AIMS in discriminating motor development differences between healthy preterm infants, preterm infants with brain injury, and healthy full-term infants.
- To identify the age at which motor development disparities become statistically significant.
Main Methods:
- A total of 252 infants were studied: 105 healthy preterm infants (HPI), 50 preterm infants with brain injury (PIBI), and 97 healthy full-term infants (HFI).
- Infants were assessed using the AIMS, with corrected age (CoA) considered.
- Statistical analysis focused on positional and total scores, and specific items like standing, across different age groups.
Main Results:
- No significant motor development differences were found in infants under 3 months.
- Significant differences in positional and total scores emerged between 4-6 months and 7-9 months (p < 0.05).
- Standing item differences were significant for infants over 10 months (p < 0.05).
- By 4 months, motor development differences were evident between preterm (HPI, PIBI) and full-term (HFI) infants.
- Motor developmental delays (≥10th percentile) were observed in 26% of HPI and 45.8% of PIBI after 4 months.
- Midline supine development was slower in HPI compared to HFI.
Conclusions:
- The AIMS demonstrates good resolution in identifying insufficient motor development in preterm infants between 4 and 9 months of corrected age.
- Significant motor developmental delays are prevalent in preterm infants, with or without brain injury, from 4 months onwards.
- Early motor assessment using AIMS is vital for distinguishing developmental trajectories in preterm versus full-term infants.
Abstract:
The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) was developed to evaluate the motor development of infants up to 18 months of age. We studied 252 infants in three groups (105 healthy preterm infants (HPI), 50 preterm infants with brain injury (PIBI), and 97 healthy full-term infants (HFI) under 18 months, corrected age (CoA)) using AIMS. No significant differences were found among HPI, PIBI, and HFI in infants less than 3 months old, yet significant differences were noted in positional scores (p < 0.05) and total scores for those four to six months of age and seven to nine months of age. A significant difference was also found in standing items for infants over 10 months (p < 0.05). After four months, there was a difference in motor development between preterm (with and without brain injury) and full-term infants. In particular, there was a significant difference in motor development between HPI and HFI and between PIBI and HFI at four to nine months, when motor skills developed explosively (p < 0.05). After four months, motor developmental delays (10th ≥) were observed in HPI and PIBI at rates of 26% and 45.8%, respectively. Midline supine development, a representative indicator of early motor development, was slower even in healthy preterm infants than in full-term infants. AIMS has a good resolution to discriminate preterm infants who are showing insufficient motor development from 4 months to 9 months.
