Early Movement Monitoring Assessment in Greek Full-Term and Preterm Infants with Normal and Low Birth Weight: Pilot Study

Abstract

Objective: To investigate if Early Movement Monitoring Assessment (EMMA) is a sesitive tool to the developmental changes across time, in frequency of total movements in Greek full term and preterm infants with normal and low birth weight. Methods: EMMA and Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) were performed on Greek infants, who were born full-term and pre-term (age corrected), with normal or low birth weight. Specifically, 11 full-term infants, 4 preterm infants with normal birth weight (>2500 gr) and 5 preterm infants with low birth weight (<2500) were assessed with EMMA for 4 -6 sessions to meet the purpose of the study. AIMS was used as criterion measurement for validity reasons. Descriptive statistics were conducted (Mean, SD) and correlation analysis was also applied between EMMA and AIMS age groups. Results: Significant correlation between EMMA and AIMS was found. Results draw a positive slope for each group, indicating that EMMA was sensitive to change in motor skills across time. Conclusion: In Greece there are the preliminary evidences to consider that EMMA is a valid tool which can be used to assess motor development easily, quickly and frequently for full-term and preterm infants with normal or low birth weight.