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Bilateral hand use during infancy in very low birth weight infants

Yuu Uchio1,2, Tetsuo Ikai3

  • 1Department of Rehabilitation, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Japan.

Journal of Physical Therapy Science
|May 5, 2025
PubMed

Insights

Very low birth weight infants show delayed bilateral hand use development. Lighter birth weight preterm infants experienced a significant delay in transferring toys between hands.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal Development
  • Pediatric Neurology
  • Infant Motor Skills

Background:

  • Preterm infants, especially those with very low birth weight (<1,500g), face unique developmental challenges.
  • Bilateral hand use is a crucial milestone in infant development, reflecting gross and fine motor integration.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the age of achieving bilateral hand use in preterm infants with birth weights under 1,500g.
  • To compare the development of specific bilateral hand use skills between very low birth weight infants (<1,000g) and those between 1,000-1,499g.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective observational study of 57 preterm infants without neurodevelopmental handicaps.
  • Infants categorized into two groups based on birth weight: <1,000g (Group A) and 1,000-1,499g (Group B).
  • Medical records analyzed for ages of achieving 'playing with both hands together,' 'transferring a toy,' and 'grasping two toys.'

Main Results:

  • A significant delay in 'transferring a toy between the two hands' was observed in Group A (90th percentile: 7.2 months) compared to Group B (6.3 months).
  • No significant differences in 'playing with both hands together' or 'grasping two toys' were found between the groups.
  • This suggests a specific delay in manipulative bilateral skills in the lighter birth weight group.

Conclusions:

  • Bilateral hand use development varies among very low birth weight infants.
  • Infants with lighter birth weights (<1,000g) demonstrated delayed development of specific bilateral hand skills.
  • Further research may explore interventions to support motor development in this vulnerable population.

Keywords:
Bilateral hand useInfancyVery low birth weight

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