Limitations in the Activity of Mobility at Age 6 Years After Difficult Birth at Term: Prospective Cohort Study

Abstract

Term infants who develop mild or moderate NE following DBAT are at increased risk for limited mobility at age 6 years. Routine monitoring of neuromotor development in these children is warranted.

Does general movements quality in term infants predict cerebral palsy and milder forms of limited mobility at 6 years?

“…The high specificity and negative predictive value of definitely abnormal general movements at fidgety age to predict CP match the values of the review of Bosanquet et al, 2 but the low sensitivity and positive predictive value contrasts with the values of the studies mainly based on preterm infants. The absence of neuroimaging in the majority of our childrenrelated to the non-academic setting of our study 14 precluded testing of the hypothesis that our different results on prediction are caused by the different neuropathology occurring in term and preterm infants. It is well known that the nature of brain lesions in preterm infants differs from that of term infants.…”

“…At the age of 6 years, five children could not be reassessed: two children of the study group had died and families of three comparison children declined participation. 13,14 The parents of the children gave signed informed consent and the procedures were approved by the medical ethical committee of University Medical Centre in Utrecht. 16 They died at the ages of 2.5 and 4 years.…”

“…14 Neurological condition was assessed with the neurological examination of the child with MND. 14 Neurological condition was assessed with the neurological examination of the child with MND.…”

“…13,14 The presence of limited mobility was determined with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). Therefore, the primary aim of this study is to evaluate to what extent the quality of general movements in the first postnatal months in children born at term with low to moderate risk for developmental disorders predicts serious neurological disorder such as CP, and, in children without CP, milder forms of limited mobility at the age of 6 years.…”

“…To this end, we used the data available from a prospective cohort study on neuromotor outcome at 6 years in children with a difficult birth at term (DBAT), which included children with and without DBAT. 13,14 The presence of limited mobility was determined with the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC). 14,15 In addition, we evaluated associations between general movements quality in the first postnatal months and the presence of learning and behaviour problems and of MND in children at school age without CP.…”