The ecological relevance of the Test of Infant Motor Performance elicited scale items

Abstract

Background and purpose: The Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) is a new test of motor and postural control for infants under 4 months of age. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between the environmental demands placed on infants in daily life and the demands placed on infants during administration of the TIMP Elicited Scale items.

Subjects: Twenty-two preterm and full-term infants and their caregivers participated. The infants were evenly divided into groups at low and high medical risk for developmental disability.

Methods: The infants were videotaped while being handled by their caregiver during undressing, bathing, dressing, and 5 minutes of playing in their natural setting (home or hospital). Each videotape recording was analyzed for the environmental demands that were placed on the infant during caregiving. Demands were coded according to predefined definitions, which represented descriptions for administering TIMP items. Interrater agreement for coding of observations ranged from 80% to 96%.

Results: Environmental demands that corresponded to 23 of the 25 TIMP items were observed during caregiving activities. The number of environmental demands placed on the infants during caregiving that corresponded to the 25 TIMP Elicited Scale items ranged from 16% to 68% of the items (mean = 37%). The mean rate of all environmental demands placed on the infants was 3.23 per minute, and the mean rate of demands that corresponded to TIMP items was 1.58 per minute.

Conclusion and discussion: Approximately 50% of all environmental demands placed on the infants during caregiving corresponded to TIMP Items, and 98% of TIMP Elicited Scale Items Corresponded to the observed environmental demands. The demands placed on infants during administration of the TIMP appear representative of typical environmental demands.