Abstract
The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) is widely used to screen for delays in motor development in high-risk infants, but its reliability and validity in Chinese infants have not been investigated. To examine the reliability and concurrent validity of AIMS in high-risk infants aged 0-9 months in China, this single-center study enrolled 50 high-risk infants aged 0-9 months (range, 0.17-9.27; average, 4.14±2.02), who were divided into two groups: 0-3 months (n=23) and 4-9 months (n=27). A physical therapist evaluated the infants with AIMS, with each evaluation video-recorded. To examine interrater reliability, two other evaluators calculated AIMS scores by observing the videos. To measure intrarater reliability, the two evaluators rescored AIMS after >1 month, using the videos. Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing results between AIMS and the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale-2 (PDMS-2). For all age groups analyzed (0-3, 4-9, and 0-9 months), intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for AIMS total score were high for both intrarater comparisons (0.811-0.995) and interrater comparisons (0.982-0.997). AIMS total scores were well correlated with all PDMS-2 subtest scores (ICC=0.751-0.977 for reflexes, stationary, locomotion, grasping, and visual-motor integration subsets). However, the fifth percentile of AIMS total score was only moderately correlated with the gross motor quotient, fine motor quotient, and total motor quotient subtests of PDMS-2 (kappa=0.580, 0.601, and 0.724, respectively). AIMS has acceptable reliability and concurrent validity for screening of motor developmental delay in high-risk infants in China.
Highlights
Certain infants are considered to be at high risk of growth and developmental delay during the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods
An important finding of our study was that the intrarater and interrater reliability of total and the various subsections of Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) score were high in infants with a corrected age of 9 months or less
AIMS total score was well correlated with the various Peabody Developmental Motor Scale-2 (PDMS-2) subtest scores (ICC: 0.751–0.977), the fifth percentile of AIMS total score was only moderately correlated with the gross motor quotient (GMQ), fine motor quotient (FMQ), and total motor quotient (TMQ) subtests of PDMS-2
Summary
Certain infants are considered to be at high risk of growth and developmental delay during the prenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods. These high-risk infants are vulnerable to cerebral injury and abnormal brain development [1, 2], which can result in permanent sequelae such as cerebral palsy and intellectual disability. Early intervention with suitable programs has been reported to have a positive effect on motor development in infants with or at high risk of developmental delay [4]. Clinical assessments of high-risk infants provide important guidance and support to the caregivers during the critical first year of an infant’s life. It is crucial that these assessments are able to identify infants with developmental delay as accurately and as early as possible
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