Early Spontaneous Movements and Postural Patterns in Infants With Extremely Low Birth Weight

Abstract

BackgroundExtremely-low-birth-weight (ELBW) infants are at high risk of morbidity, mortality, and long-term neurodevelopmental disorders. Evaluating infants' early spontaneous movements and postural patterns could facilitate the early detection of neurological dysfunction. This study aimed to analyze the results of global—and detailed—General Movements Assessment (GMA) in ELBW infants at a corrected age of three to five months and to compare with normal-birth-weight (NBW) infants. MethodsFifty-two ELBW infants (median birth weight = 915.5 g) and 50 NBW infants were included. All infants were assessed according to GMA using Motor Optimality Score for 3- to 5-Month-Old Infants–Revised score sheet (MOS-R). In addition, later diagnoses of ELBW infants with atypical development were presented. ResultsFidgety movements were observed in 36 (69.2%) of ELBW infants and all NBW infants. MOS-R scores were lower in the ELBW group (median = 24) compared with the NBW group (median = 26). The ELBW infants scored lower than NBW infants in all MOS-R subcategories. Twenty-three (44.2%) of ELBW infants were diagnosed as atypical in the later period, although all control infants had normal development. ConclusionsThe study indicated that ELBW might increase the risk of atypical development in infants. The MOS-R could help us to find the risk of atypical development in infants with ELBW.