Evaluation of motor development of preterm infants from the point of view of physiotherapists and parents, using standardized assessment tools

To comparatively analyze the coherence of parents' and physiotherapists' assessments of motor development in the population of preterm infants. The study included 91 premature infants (up to 37 weeks of gestation) with an adjusted age of 1 to 12 months and their parents. The study was performed at the Children's Clinical University Hospital in Latvia. Parents were asked to complete the gross motor domain of the Ages and Stages Questionnaires (ASQ-GM). The physiotherapist then assessed the level of motor development of the premature baby using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS). All data were collected, processed, and the results were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods. According to the results of the ASQ-GM, for most of the study participants (61.5%) the level of motor development was described as “above the threshold level”, 13.2% was at “threshold level” and 25.3% was “below the threshold level”. According to the AIMS, most study participants (79.1%) had motor development levels above the 10th percentile and was described as "normal", while 20.9% were below normal. Children with higher results at the ASQ-GM, also had higher AIMS centile rank (r=0.781, p<0.001). The result of the ASQ-GM, which was below “threshold level” had a sensitivity of 84%, a specificity of 90% and a positive predictive value of 70% that the child's score would be below the normal (below the 10th percentile) on the AIMS. In general, the level of motor development of most premature infants corresponds to the adjusted age. There is a statistically significant, highly close relationship between parental (ASQ-GM) and physiotherapist (AIMS) assessment. The result ASQ-GM is valid to identify gross motor function delays in the population of prematurely born infants.