The comparison of general movements assessment and neurological examination during early infancy

Abstract

This prospective single-blinded study was performed to evaluate general movements (GMs) in group of high-risk, low-birth-weight and preterm infants and to compare results with neurologic examination. All infants- neurologic examinations, Gross Motor Function Measurement (GMFM) and Bayley-III Scale were performed at the corrected age of 12 months. A total of 22 infants were included. Eight infants (group-1) (mean: 31.6 +/- 3.29 weeks, range: 25-36 weeks) had normal GMs in all recordings and were ultimately evaluated as -normal-; 12 (group-2) (mean: 31.6 +/- 3.29 weeks, range: 25-35 weeks) had abnormal GMs during writhing movements period but had normal GMs in subsequent recordings and were evaluated as -normal-; and 2 infants (group-3) (mean: 29.5 +/- 7.78 weeks, range: 24-35 weeks) with consistent abnormal GMs who were evaluated as -abnormal.- Complete agreement (kappa=1) was found between GMs and neurologic examination and significant agreement between GMs and cranial ultrasonography (kappa=0.76). When results of GMFM and Bayley-III were compared; statistically significant differences were found between group-1 and group-2 in -standing- parameter of GMFM (p<0.05) and -cognitive- parameter of Bayley-III (p<0.05). GMs assessment can help determine neurologic disorders in high-risk infant populations as an adjunct to other diagnostic techniques.