A randomised controlled trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of a motor developmental program in improving motor performance in Thai infants born preterm. Eighty-four preterm born infants were randomly assigned to either a control or intervention group. Additionally, 27 low-risk preterm infants were included forming a comparative group for this study. From term equivalent age to four months adjusted age, all infants had their motor performance assessed monthly with the Test of Infant Motor Performance by one of the physiotherapist research assistants blind to group assignment and infants' adjusted age. In addition, the intervention infants received a developmental program at each monthly visit. Motor performance for each group plotted against age revealed linear trends of progression. The intervention group showed the greatest improvement. Two-way repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant differences across age and among groups. Scheffé comparisons indicated that the mean differences between each pair of the three groups were significant and supported the finding of greater improvement of the intervention infants over the control group. Thus the results suggest that the intervention program is likely to have beneficial effects when offered to a similar population of preterm born infants.

[Purpose] A randomized controlled trial was conducted to investigate the immediate effects of horseback riding (HR) and a dynamic (DHS) and static (SHS) horse riding simulator (OSIM uGallop, Taiwan) on sitting ability of children with cerebral palsy. [Subjects and Methods] Thirty children with cerebral palsy were recruited and randomly assigned into three groups. Children received 30 minutes of exercise according to their assigned group. The Segmental Assessment of Trunk Control (SATCo) and Gross Motor Function Measure-66 (GMFM-66) sitting dimension were used to assess children in all groups both before and after the interventions. [Results] Sitting abilities were significantly improved after all interventions. Horseback riding showed the most improvement, followed by the dynamic and static horse riding simulator groups. Horseback riding also showed a significant improvement in the GMFM sitting dimension. [Conclusion] Horseback riding was the best intervention for promoting sitting ability of children with spastic cerebral palsy. However, a dynamic horse riding simulator can be a good surrogate for horseback riding when horseback riding is not available.

A new method of measuring the Scarf sign called the Scarf ratio is described in which data derived were reported on a continuous scale. The Scarf ratio is the distance of the olecranon process of the arm being tested as it moves across the trunk compared with the infant's own biacromial width. Longitudinal data for the Scarf ratio were measured in a cohort of 111 Thai preterm born infants. The data were collapsed into four age ranges ie 28-31, 32-36, 37-39 and 40 weeks post-conceptional age (PCA) according to the trends from the longitudinal plots. As the means of the Scarf ratio increased with age, it can be described that the resistance to the passive movements of the arm increased when the infants grew up. Data were also converted to a newly developed categorical scoring system. All infants between the age of 28 and 31 weeks PCA recorded a score of 1 (low tone). Most infants aged 32-36 and 37-39 weeks PCA recorded a score of 2 while most infants aged 40 weeks PCA obtained a score of 3 (high tone). Thus, this method can be an alternative when continuous data for the Scarf sign are desirable.

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Background: This study aimed to translate the original version of the Cumberland Ankle Instability Tool (CAITY) into a Thai version by using cross-cultural adaptation, and to examine the psychometric properties and cutoff score of the CAITY-Thai version (CAITY-T). Methods: Six cross-cultural adaptation steps were used to translate and validate the psychometric properties with 267 participants, 140 with chronic ankle instability (CAI) and 127 without CAI. Their mean age was 12.3 AE 2.42 years. Validation was carried out for internal consistency and concurrent validity against a visual analog scale for global perceived ankle instability, and for discriminant validity (receiver operating characteristic curve). The CAITY-T was completed twice by 133 volunteer children (49.62%) for test-retest reliability. The cutoff score was determined using Youden's index. Results: The CAITY was successfully adapted for the Thai language. Validation showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's a = 0.767) and concurrent validity (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.8 right ankle and 0.784 left ankle). The test-retest reliability was substantial with an intraclass correlation coefficient (2,1) of 0.865 (95% Confidence Interval = 0.809-0.904). The receiver operating characteristic curve and Youden's index showed the cutoff score that discriminated between children with and without CAI on the CAITY-T at ≤25. The CAITY-T obtained 95.2% sensitivity, 97% specificity, 0.05 negative, and 32 positive likelihood ratios. Conclusion: The CAITY-T was valid and available for Thai children aged 8-16 years. It displayed positive reliability, good validity, and an acceptable cutoff score. The cutoff score for children had high sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios.