Evaluation of risk factors, neurologic situation and motor performance of preterm infants

The aim of this study is to evaluate the motor performances of preterm infants with the adjusted age of 3-5 months and to compare these factors among different gestational ages. A total of 78 preterm infants, including 26 infants with gestational weeks <32, 30 infants with gestational weeks 32-34, and 22 infants with gestational weeks >34, were included in the study. Demographic and clinical characteristics of these infants were recorded. Fidgety movements of each infant were video-recorded for 3-5 minutes. FMs were analyzed using Prechtl method in terms of observational GMs evaluation. The prone, supine, sitting and standing movements of the infants were observed and recorded on the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) form, and the scores were converted into age-specific sentiment values. The movements of the infants were observed and Touwen Infant Neurological Examination (TINE) was performed. The comparison of the motor scores of the babies according to their birth week showed a statistically significant difference (p<0.01) in terms of AIMS prone scores in favor of babies born after >34 weeks, no such statistically significant difference was calculated in terms of other variables (p>0.05). No statistically significant difference (p>0.05) was detected between GMs characteristics and neurological status among the babies based on their birth week scale. When the motor scores according to GMs characteristics of infants were compared, no statistically significant score (p>0.05) was documented. A positive and low correlation (p<0.01) was found between the neurological status of the babies and the number of the days they spent in the incubator. On the other hand, there were no such a correlation between other variables (p>0.05). The higher the gestational age of preterm infants were, the fewer days in the incubator they spent and the lower frequency of phototherapy treatment they got. Our study is significant in that it not only provides a detailed and holistic evaluation of risk factors, and neurological statuses, and the motor performances, all together, in preterm infants, but also makes early detection of infants with minor neurological dysfunction or atypical development of motor performance possible and guides them to early intervention program in the case of necessity. Key words: Preterm infants, risk factors, motor performances, minor neurological disfunction