The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) is a norm-referenced measure of infant gross motor development. The objectives of this study were: (1) to establish the best cut-off scores on the A I M S for predictive purposes, and (2) to compare the predictive abilities of the AMIS with those of the Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI) and the Peabody Developmental'Gross Motor Scale (PDGMS). One hundred and sisty-four infants were assessed at 4 and 8 months adjusted ages on the three measures. A pediatrician assessed each infant's gross motor development at 18 months as normal, suspicious, or abnormal. For the AIMS, two different cut-off points were identified: the 10th centile at 4 months and the 5th centile at 8 months. The MAI provided the best specificity rates at 4 months while the Aws was superior in specificity at 8 months. Sensitivity rates were comparable between the two tests. The PDGMS in general demonstrated poor predictive abilities.

Context Although cerebral palsy (CP) among extremely premature infants has been reported as a major morbidity outcome, there are difficulties comparing published CP rates from many sites over various birth years.Objective To assess the changes in population-based, gestational age-specific prevalence rates of CP among extremely premature infants over 30 years.Design Prospective population-based longitudinal outcome study. Setting and ParticipantsIn Northern Alberta, 2318 infants 20 to 27 weeks' gestational age with birth weights of 500 to 1249 g were liveborn from 1974 through 2003. By 2 years of age, 1437 (62%) had died, 23 (1%) were lost to follow-up, and 858 (37%) had received multidisciplinary neurodevelopmental assessment.Main Outcome Measure Population-based prevalence rates of CP were determined. Logistic regression with linear spline was used to assess changes in CP prevalence over time.

No abstract

Therapeutic, II.