Factors influencing the motor development of prematurely born school-aged children in Brazil.
Low birth weight plus limited home resources quadruples the chance of motor impairment in 8- to 10-year-olds born preterm.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers gave the Movement Assessment Battery for Children-2 to 8- to 10-year-olds who had been born early in Brazil.
They also asked about birth weight and home resources like books and toys.
No control group was used; the team simply counted how many kids scored in the motor-impairment range.
What they found
Thirty-nine percent of the children failed the MABC-2.
Lower birth weight and fewer home resources each raised the risk, and together they quadrupled it.
How this fits with other research
Velikos et al. (2015) saw the same pattern in babies: Brazilian preterm infants already scored below average on the Bayley-III motor scale at 12 months.
Kwok et al. (2019) later showed that a poor MABC-2 score at age 3 predicts developmental coordination disorder at 4.5 years, so the trouble seen here likely started early and stayed.
Farrant et al. (1998) looked at 10-year-olds too and found that low maternal education alone drove most special-education placements, matching the current finding that home resources matter as much as biology.
Why it matters
If you work with school-age preterm clients, screen motor skills even when IQ looks fine. Ask about birth weight and home resources; both flags together mean you should refer for OT or PT and coach families on enriching the home space with movement toys and activities.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Despite technological advances in neonatology, premature children are still susceptible to disruptions in neurological development. The current study aimed to analyze the factors that influence motor development in prematurely born school-aged children in Brazil. This cross-sectional study involved 100 "apparently normal" children, aged 8-10 years, born at less than 35 weeks of gestation or with birth weight< 1500 g. Their motor development was assessed using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children (MABC-2). The children's neuropsychological and academic performance was assessed with the Token Test (TT) and Teste de Desempenho Escolar (TDE), respectively. Parents answered questions regarding the child's clinical history and behavior using the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) and family environment resources (RAF). Hierarchical multivariate analyses revealed that 39% of the children scored lower on the MABC-2, as compared to that expected for their age (manual dexterity: 49%; balance: 35%; throwing/catching a ball: 26%). Multivariate analysis indicated that the lower the birth weight, the maternal age at childbirth, and the RAF score, the greater was the chance of impairment on the MABC-2 scores. The probability of having an impairment MABC-2 scores was four times higher when the mother was not employed. We also found associations between MABC-2 scores and the tasks of tying shoes and opening/closing zippers and buttons. Factors related to children's home environments and birth weight are associated with deficient motor performance in prematurely born Brazilian school-aged children. Deficient motor skills were also associated with difficulty in performing functional tasks requiring greater manual dexterity.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2014 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2014.04.023