The motor development in preterm infants during the first six months of corrected age according to alberta infant motor scale: a cohort study

THESES

The motor development in preterm infants during the first six months of corrected age according to alberta infant motor scale: a cohort study (Abstract)^*. Dissertation. São Paulo, 2004

Ana Paula Restiffe

^{Correspondence}

There is no consensus whether the neuromotor development in preterm infants with low risk for neurological sequelae is similar, delayed or accelerated, when compared with term infants.

The purposes of this survey are: to study the gross motor development (GMD) in preterm infants (PT), with low-risk for neurological problems during the first six months of corrected age, using the scores and the analysis of 4 postures (prone, supine, sitting, standing) from the assessment tool of the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), according to chronological and corrected age for the degree of prematurity; and to verify the need of either correcting or not the chronological age in PT, during this period.

This observational and cohort study assessed 43 PT born in the Nursery Annexed to the Maternity, in Clinics Hospital Medicine School of São Paulo University, monthly, from their first return after hospital discharge to 6 months of corrected age, through video-taped assessments of the 4 postures, during the maximum period of 50 minutes. The results of mean scores, considering corrected and chronological age were comparatively analyzed with AIMS, by adjusting non-linear regression models and by calculating the 95% confidence interval (CI) in each period. If there is no overlapping of CI, the level of significance was considered statistically significant (p=0.05).

The results suggest that by using the chronological age with PT, regardless of the degree of prematurity, their GMD is considered to be delayed in comparison with AIMS. However, by correcting the chronological age, the GMD has become equivalent to AIMS. The greater is the degree of prematurity, the more under-estimated is the chronological-aged scores. The prone was the posture which more items had been delayed in comparison with AIMS; the standing, more advanced items; and supine and sitting, with more variability, as far as the period of acquisition compared with AIMS is concerned.

Concluding, the results suggest that, even though the pre-terms' GMD is not delayed in comparisons with the term infants', when the corrected age is considered, their development has shown a distinct temporal, motor and strategical variability from the term infants'.

Key words: newborn, premature infant, motor activity, cohort study.

*

O desenvolvimento motor dos recém-nascidos pré-termos nos primeiros seis meses de idade corrigida segundo Alberta Infant Motor Scale: um estudo de coorte (Resumo). Dissertação de Mestrado, Universidade de São Paulo. Orientador: José Luiz Dias Gherpelli.

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  25 Apr 2006
• Date of issue
  Dec 2004