Motor Development in Cocaine Exposed Infants. 1522

Arendt, Robert; Angelopoulos, Jennifer; Detweiler, Susan M

doi:10.1203/00006450-199604001-01545

Cited by 2 publications

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“…26 The clinic serves primarily an inner city population of infants and children who are at increased risk of developmental and medical problems associated with poverty, including poor prenatal care, poor nutrition, and neglect, as well as with prenatal drug exposure.…”

Section: Methods Subjectsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In a study of high-risk infants, 25 41% of cocaine-exposed infants exhibited hypertonia at age 6 months, which resolved in most children by age 24 months. Finally, two separate studies using the Psychomotor Developmental Index Score from the Bayley Scales of Infant Development found poorer performance by children who were exposed to cocaine prenatally at 4 and 17 months, 26,27 whereas others found no group differences. 28,29 The current study investigated the hypothesis that 2-year-olds exposed to cocaine in utero would perform less well on a standardized assessment of fine and gross motor skills compared with a group of unexposed children recruited from the same high-risk population.…”

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Motor Development of Cocaine-exposed Children at Age Two Years

et al. 1999

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Objective-This article was designed to investigate effects of prenatal cocaine exposure on motor development of young children from a predominately underprivileged, urban population.Methodology-A total of 260 infants and young children were initially recruited from either the newborn nursery or the at-risk pediatric clinic of an urban teaching hospital. Prenatal history and birth outcomes were collected from medical records. Demographic characteristics and additional drug histories were obtained from the mothers. The 199 subjects (98 cocaine-exposed and 101 unexposed) who returned at age 2 years were assessed by examiners blinded to drug exposure status using the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales.Results-Compared with control subjects, the cocaine-exposed group performed significantly less well on both the fine and the gross motor development indices. Mean scores for both groups were within the average range on the gross motor index, but greater than 1 standard deviation below average on the fine motor index. Differences were significant on the balance and the receipt and propulsion subscales of the gross motor scale, and on the hand use and the eye-hand coordination subscales of the fine motor scale. Cocaine status independently predicted poorer hand use and eye-hand coordination scores. There also was an effect of alcohol exposure on the receipt and propulsion subscale.Conclusions-Findings indicate that deficiencies in motor development remain detectable at 2 years of age in children exposed to drugs prenatally. Although other environmental variables may influence motor development, children exposed to cocaine and to alcohol in utero may encounter developmental challenges that impede later achievement.Although the recent epidemic of cocaine use may have subsided, 1,2 concerns about the development of many children exposed to cocaine in utero remain relevant. There are several possible mechanisms by which cocaine may damage the developing nervous system of the human fetus, 3 suggesting that neural functions associated with movement, such as those regulated by the hypothalamic and extrapyramidal systems, should be examined closely. Specific findings demonstrating a strong and explicit effect of fetal cocaine Copyright © 1999 exposure on infant development, however, have been difficult to confirm, in part because of numerous confounding factors. 4 In particular, many studies had small sample sizes and/or lacked control for the polydrug exposure that is commonly associated with cocaine exposure. Additionally, previous research frequently failed to consider other factors, such as amount of prenatal care, maternal education, and prematurity, that also have been shown to affect developmental outcome. 5,6 Numerous studies have focused on the neurobehavioral sequelae of prenatal cocaine exposure on newborns or young infants, many of which reported significant negative effects of cocaine exposure. Reviews of this literature, however, note several inconsistencies in the nature and extent of the deficits. 7,8 A...

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Motor Development of Cocaine-exposed Children at Age Two Years

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“…Arendt and colleagues 51 reported results of a study of sensory-motor development in 100 4-month-olds, 42 of whom were prenatally exposed to cocaine. Testers were masked as to drug status of infants.…”

Section: Sensory-motor Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fetal Cocaine Exposure:

Arendt

Minnes

Singer

1996

Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics

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SUMMARYResearch on animal models demonstrates that fetal cocaine exposure results in neurologic deficits in memory and learning. Although drug effects on human infants are difficult to separate from other environmental influences of a drug-using lifestyle, studies suggest that infants exposed to cocaine in utero have reduced growth, delays in sensory-motor development, attentional deficits, and depressed responsivity to social stimulation. Standard interventions to promote behavioral state regulation in affected infants may be helpful when parents are capable of participating.The history of research on the effects of in utero cocaine exposure has been both short and turbulent. In the 10 years since the "crack baby" was first identified and birth outcomes reported, findings have been controversial and at times contradictory. Perinatal epidemiologic studies in the late 1980s documented the large numbers of infants born after fetal exposure to cocaine. Estimates of the proportion of babies born in urban teaching hospitals who test positive for cocaine range from 5-45%. [1][2][3][4] Early alarming reports about pronounced neurobehavioral abnormalities in neonates exposed to cocaine in utero 5-7 raised subsequent concerns about potential long-term neurodevelopmental effects on fetal and infant outcome. Recent reports, however, indicate that the effects may be subtle and could be masked and/or confounded by environmental factors, such as amount of prenatal care 8 or socioeconomic status. 9 Part of the ambiguity in results might be attributed to the initial lack of information regarding effects of cocaine on human development. With little else to go on, investigators interested in studying the effects of cocaine on the human fetus had two potential bodies of research on which to draw, the known effects of cocaine on adults and on animals. As the volume of literature grew, several issues central to the further study of prenatal exposure to a potentially neurotoxic agent became evident: (a) whether any pre-or perinatal neurologic effect could be attributed to cocaine, (b) whether identified effects could be related to specific neurobehavioral outcomes, and (c) the long-term consequences. An examination, therefore, of the evidence pertaining to the neurologic development of infants exposed to cocaine follows. Additionally, some considerations concerning intervention are offered.

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Motor Development in Cocaine Exposed Infants. 1522

Cited by 2 publications

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Motor Development of Cocaine-exposed Children at Age Two Years

Motor Development of Cocaine-exposed Children at Age Two Years

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