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Associations of motor co‐ordination and attention with motor‐perceptual development in 3‐year‐old preterm and full‐term children who needed neonatal intensive care
Author(s) -
Hemgren E.,
Persson K.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
child: care, health and development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.832
H-Index - 82
eISSN - 1365-2214
pISSN - 0305-1862
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2214.2006.00625.x
Subject(s) - ordination , term (time) , intensive care , perception , medicine , full term , pediatrics , psychology , physical medicine and rehabilitation , intensive care medicine , neuroscience , computer science , biology , pregnancy , machine learning , physics , quantum mechanics , genetics
Abstract Background Children who have needed neonatal intensive care (NIC) are considered to be at risk for deficits such as developmental co‐ordination disorder and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder. By assessing motor‐perceptual development, motor co‐ordination and attention already at 3 years of age, it might be possible to identify such deficits earlier than they are today. Aim To investigate the motor‐perceptual development in a group of 202 NIC children but had no major impairments, to describe associations of deficits in co‐ordination and attention with motor‐perceptual delays, and to estimate the prevalence of NIC children with combined deficits together with a motor‐perceptual delay. Method Co‐ordination and attention in children born very preterm ( n = 57), moderately preterm ( n = 75) and full‐term ( n = 70) were observed according to a model for Combined Assessment of Motor Performance and Behaviour while they were assessed using a developmental scale, Motor‐Perceptual Development, 0–7 years, MPU. Results In two out of 14 MPU areas, a larger proportion of very preterm than of moderately preterm and full‐term children had marked developmental delay. Overall, the proportion of NIC children having a motor‐perceptual delay increased with increasing incoordination and especially increasing lack of attention. Twenty‐one (11%) of the NIC children had different motor‐perceptual delays combined with pronounced incoordination and pronounced lack of attention. Conclusion Deficits in co‐ordination and attention were associated with motor‐perceptual delays in areas important for daily living and development of academic skills. Therefore, to find children at risk for developmental co‐ordination disorder and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder, assessments of co‐ordination and attention should be added to assessments of motor‐perceptual development in 3‐year‐old NIC children.