Postural control of pre-term infants at 6 and 12 months corrected age

Background

Pre-term infants are at high risk for motor disabilities. Postural control, the basis for motor development, develops rapidly during the first year of life. An early start to extra-uterine life with an immature motor system may influence a pre-term infant's postural control.

Aims

To identify important prognostic factors and determine the difference in postural control between full-term and pre-term infants.

Method

Medical records of 93 pre-term infants with birth weight of less than 1501 g (mean birth weight = 1136.03 ± 243.86 g; mean gestational age = 29.14 ± 2.78 weeks) were reviewed. Data was collected from the preemie clinical follow-up program at the National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan.

Results

Results demonstrated that pre-term infants had poorer postural control than full-term infants both at 6 and 12 months adjusted age, and that medical complication as measured by the Neonatal Medical Index was the best predictor of postural control in pre-term infants in the first year of life. In addition, our findings confirmed that the development of postural control at 6 months adjusted age predicts the development of postural control at 12 months adjusted age after controlling for prognostic factors.

Conclusions

Both biological and social environmental factors appeared to be associated with pre-term infants' postural control at 6 and 12 months adjusted age. The development of postural control at 6 months adjusted age predicted the development of postural control at 12 months adjusted age. This suggested the value of early follow-up examinations at 6 months adjusted age.