Early infantile spontaneous movement in very low birthweight infants is associated with sensory characteristics at the corrected age of 3 years.

Aim: To clarify the relationship between early infantile spontaneous movement of very-low-birth-weight infants (VLBWIs) and sensory characteristics in childhood.
Study Design: Prospective cohort study. We investigated the association between the Motor Optimality Score-Revised (MOS-R), a detailed assessment of general movements (GMs) at the corrected age of 9-17 weeks and the Infant/Toddler Sensory Profile Japanese version (ITSP-J) at the corrected age of 3 years. A multiple regression analysis was performed to examine the correlation of ITSP-J and MOS-R with patient clinical background factors.
Subjects: Fifty-three VLBWIs (median gestational age: 28 weeks, 6 days; median birth weight: 997 g) who were managed at the NICU of Oita University from September 2013 to June 2019.
Results: A multiple regression analysis revealed that the ITSP-J subscale in the sensory section of visual score was significantly correlated with the age-adequate movement repertoire subscore of MOS-R, and in the sensory section of vestibular score was correlated with the fidgety subscore of MOS-R. For both visual and vestibular section scores, intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) showed an independent association with the MOS-R subscore.
Conclusion: Spontaneous movement characteristics in early infancy were associated with sensory characteristics in early childhood.
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
(Copyright © 2023 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)