Predictive validity of Prechtl’s Method on the Qualitative Assessment of General Movements: a systematic review of the evidence

Abstract

Aim The aim of this systematic review was to examine the evidence for the predictive validity of Prechtl’s Method on the Qualitative Assessment of General Movements (GMsA) with respect to neurodevelopmental outcomes. Method Six electronic databases (PsychINFO, Embase, Health and Psychosocial Instruments, PubMed, and AMED) were searched using the following keywords to identify all studies that examined the predictive validity of the GMsA: ‘general movements’, ‘assessment’, ‘movement’, ‘child development’, ‘infant’, and ‘predictive value of test’. Only English‐ and French‐language studies were included, whereas studies that focused on spontaneous mobility in preterm infants, but not necessarily the GMsA, or which did not report on the predictive value of the GMsA were excluded. A total of 39 studies were included in the final analysis. Results Studies were separated according to the age at follow‐up: 12 to 23 months, 2 to 3, 4 to 11, and 12 to 18 years. All used a longitudinal cohort study design; however, the outcome measures differed greatly amongst the studies. Values for sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value varied amongst studies. The overall trend indicated that the presence of abnormalities in the quality of fidgety movements at 12 weeks adjusted age is more predictive of adverse outcomes than abnormal writhing movements. Interpretation The GMsA demonstrates potential as a cost‐effective, non‐intrusive means of infant examination. However, current studies include important sources of bias. Future methodologically rigorous studies with functional outcomes are suggested.

Skin conductance as a marker of pain in infants of different gestational age

“…According to Prechtl's Scale, infants were separated into 5 categories 13,14 . To prevent distortion of results we included only infants who met the criteria for categories 1 and 2.…”

“…Measurement of electrical SC is an accepted method for assessing the new-born emotional state and is closely related to infant behaviour and crying 12 , which is reflected in the behavioural state of the infant according to Prechtl's method for the qualitative assessment of general movements (Prechtl's Scale) (ref. 13,14 ). The aim of this study was to determine if changes in electrical SC can be considered an objective method for measurement and assessment of pain in infants of different gestational age.…”

Early motor repertoire in very low birth weight infants in India is associated with motor development at one year

“…It has further been claimed that GMA studies have a risk for bias because study samples are selected retrospectively, based on available video recordings rather than well-defined high-risk cohorts. (19) No study has so far dealt with the general movements and motor repertoire of Indian infants, and studies on the feasibility of GMA and AMR in low-resource settings are limited.…”

Kinematic analysis of preterm newborns' spontaneous movements for postural activity assessment

“…However, studies have been carried out that used force plates to measure the center of pressure (COP, point of the ground reaction force vector) and changes in its position in time 5,[18][19][20][21] . Darsaklis et al 5 compared characteristics of changes in the COP in preterm and full-term infants at corrected ages. The former were found to have significantly greater range of motion of the COP and its fluctuations in the craniocaudal direction.…”

“…Recordings of movements are used to evaluate the quality of certain spontaneous general movements in infants and newborns 3,4 . Even with this time-consuming method, however, validity must be established in further studies 5 . One approach used to analyze human motion is kinematic analysis.…”