Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 16, 2026
Quantified Assessment of Infant's Gross Motor Abilities Using a Multisensor Wearable
Published on: May 17, 2024
The impact of early intervention on early spontaneous movements of infants: a systematic review
Dilara Bozgan-Baş1, Bilge Nur Yardımcı-Lokmanoğlu2, Akmer Mutlu2
1Graduate School of Health Sciences, Pediatric Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Doctoral Program, Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye.
Insights
Early intervention may influence infant spontaneous movements, especially during the fidgety period. However, limited evidence and high bias necessitate further high-quality research on early intervention effects.
Area of Science:
- Developmental neuroscience
- Pediatric rehabilitation
- Infant motor development
Background:
- Early intervention impacts neural differentiation in plastic infant brains.
- The effect of early intervention on infant spontaneous movements remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of early intervention strategies on infant spontaneous movements.
- To synthesize current evidence on early intervention and infant motor assessments.
Main Methods:
- Systematic review following PRISMA guidelines.
- Included studies assessed spontaneous movements using general movements assessment pre- and post-intervention.
- Risk of bias assessed using Cochrane Tool-2 and RoBINS-I; evidence certainty evaluated with GRADE.
Main Results:
- Ten studies with 633 infants were analyzed.
- Most studies exhibited high risk of bias, with low to very low certainty of evidence.
- Motor interventions and parental involvement were common; improvements often seen in the fidgety period.
Conclusions:
- Early intervention may affect infant spontaneous movements, particularly during the fidgety period.
- Heterogeneity, bias, and low evidence certainty limit generalizability.
- Future research requires high-level evidence to confirm impacts on early spontaneous movements.
Background:
Early intervention in infants can impact the process of neural differentiation during the period when the brain is highly plastic. However, it is unclear whether early intervention can similarly affect early spontaneous movements of infants.
Aim:
To determine the effects of early intervention approaches on early spontaneous movements in infants.
Methods:
Studies were eligible if they enrolled infants in any early intervention program and assessed early spontaneous movements using a general movements assessment pre- and post-intervention. Five databases were searched and the PRISMA guideline was followed. The Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool-2 and the Risk of Bias in Non-randomized Studies of Interventions were used to identify risk of bias. GRADE approach was used to assess the certainty of the evidence.
Results:
Ten studies (involving 633 participants) were included. Most of the studies had a high or serious risk of bias, and the certainty of the evidence was low to very low. The studies varied in their intervention approaches, intensity, and inclusion criteria. The most common early intervention methods were motor interventions, such as physiotherapy, or parental involvement. In four out of five studies which showed an improvement, this improvement occurred during the fidgety period.
Conclusions:
Early intervention in infants could influence the spontaneous movements, particularly during the fidgety period. The generalizability and comparability of the results are limited due to the heterogeneity of the methods, the low certainty of evidence and the high risk of bias. Future research should investigate the impact of high-level evidence approaches on early spontaneous movements.
