Motor behavior of low birth weight and very low birth weight premature infants

ABSTRACT | The objectives of this study were to verify the difference between the motor behaviors of low birth weight (LBW) premature infants and very low birth weight (VLBW) premature infants in the first 8 months of life and assess motor behavior of these infants in different age groups. We evaluated 41 LBW infants (2499g to 1500g) and 22 VLBW infants (1499g to 1000g). Groups were divided according to age into NB–1 month, 2–4 months, and 5–8 months, and their motor behavior was analyzed by the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) score and percentile. Kruskal-Wallis test was utilized to verify the difference of motor behavior between age groups (NB to 1 month, 2–4 months, and 5–8 months) in each group independently. To detect differences between groups (LBW and VLBW) in each age group, we used the Mann-Whitney test (p≤0.05). A significant difference was observed between the LBW group and the VLBW group, both for score (p=0.011) and percentiles (p=0.010), in age groups 2–4 months and 5–8 months (p=0.017; p=0.013, respectively). In the comparison between age groups 0–1 month and 2–4 months, we observed higher scores for the LBW (p=0.000) and VLBW (p=0.001) groups and lower percentiles (p=0.003) for the VLBW group at 2–4 months. Between age groups 0–1 month and 5–8 months, we observed higher scores (p=0.000; p=0.000) and lower percentiles (p=0.005; p=0.000) at 5–8 months. Between age groups 2–4 months and 5–8 months, we observed higher score (p=0.000; p=0.000) and lower percentile (p=0.006; p=0.004) at 5–8 months. Birth weight had a significant impact on motor development