Early gross motor development of preterm infants according to the Alberta Infant Motor Scale
- PMID: 17095330
- DOI: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.07.025
Early gross motor development of preterm infants according to the Alberta Infant Motor Scale
Abstract
Objective: To systematically examine gross motor development in the first 18 months of life of preterm infants.
Study design: A total of 800 preterm infants (356 boys), ages between 1 and 18 months and corrected for degree of prematurity, were assessed with the use of the Alberta Infant Motor Scale.
Results: Comparison of the mean Alberta Infant Motor Scale scores of the preterm infants with the norm-referenced values derived from term infants revealed that as a group, the preterm infants scored significantly lower at all age levels, even with full correction for degree of prematurity.
Conclusions: In general, preterm infants exhibit different gross motor developmental trajectories compared with term infants in the first 18 months of life. The gross motor developmental profile of preterm infants may reflect a variant of typical gross motor development, which seems most likely to be specific for this population. As a consequence, adjusted norms should be used for proper evaluation and clinical decision-making in relation to preterm infants.
Comment in
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Variation and "abnormality": recognizing the differences.J Pediatr. 2006 Nov;149(5):593-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2006.08.030. J Pediatr. 2006. PMID: 17095323 No abstract available.
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