Movement Disorders
Conditions
Keywords
Infants born preterm, Early physiotherapy intervention, Motor development, Parental participation, Parental competency
Brief summary
This is a pragmatic randomized controlled study. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the practice and effect of customised physiotherapy on preterm infants'motor development when the intervention is performed over a period of three weeks while the infant resides in the neonatal intensive care unit. The study will also attempt to analyze the parents' experiences in being actively involved in education and practice of the intervention designed to promote the child's motor development, and the effects on the parent-child relationship in the short and long term.The children are followed up until a corrected age of two years. This study consists of a pragmatic randomized controlled trial and a qualitative study.
Detailed description
Infants born preterm with an gestational age below 32 weeks have an increased risk of developing different grades and types of abnormalities, among them delayed motor development, co-ordination difficulties and cerebral palsy. The prevalence of serious developmental abnormalities increases the lower the gestational age and birth weight. The reported incidence of mild developmental abnormalities is 15-20 % in children with a gestational age \<28 weeks or with a birth weight under 1000 g, 10-20 % in children with a gestational age of 28-31 weeks or a birth weight between 1000-1500 g and only 5 % in children born at term. The incidence of cerebral palsy is 10-20% amongst children in the first group, 5-10% in the second group and only 0,1 % in children born at term.With such a high risk of developing motor abnormalities for infants born preterm together with limited evidence-based knowledge of early physiotherapy approaches that facilitate motor development, it is essential that more research is done in this area to ensure that physiotherapy if used, is in the right manner to prevent and reduce such difficulties.
Interventions
OTHERIndividually customized physiotherapy
Main elements in the intervention are postural support and facilitating techniques. The intervention will be carried out twice a day over a three-week period if the infant's condition allows it. The length of each treatment session will be adjusted dependent on the infant's response and condition. Maximum treatment time is 10 minutes.
Sponsors
University of Tromso
St. Olavs Hospital
University of Illinois at Chicago
Oslo University Hospital
University Hospital of North Norway
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
7 Days to 10 Weeks
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Child born before or at 32nd gestational week. * Child that tolerates being handled at 34th week postmenstrual age. * Parents that can perform the intervention understand and speak Norwegian. * Follow up of the child in the hospital where the intervention is given.
Exclusion criteria
* Child born later than 32nd week. * Child who cannot tolerate being handled for up to 10 minutes at 34th postmenstrual age. * Triplets or more. * Child who has undergone surgery. * Child with large deformities. * Parents that can perform the intervention but do not understand and speak Norwegian. * Follow up of the child is not taking place in the hospital where the intervention is given. * All children who fill the inclusion criteria will be included to begin with. * If at a later stage they are unable to manage the tests due to their condition they will be excluded.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Peabody Developmental Motor Scales(PDMS-2) | Two years post term age | PDMS-2 assess both fine- and gross motor function. Even though our Primary Outcome Measure is at two years post term age, we are going to publish results from assessments at earlier ages when they exist for the whole sample as the study proceeds. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Test of Infant Motor Performance Screening Items (TIMPSI), General Movement Assessment (GMA),Test of Infant Motor Performance(TIMP), Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), Peabody Developmental Motor Scales (PDMS-2) | TIMPSI: 34 w (baseline). GMA: 34 w, 36 w, 3 mo. TIMP: 37 w, 3 mo. AIMS: 3 mo, 6 mo, 12 mo. PDMS-2: 6 mo, 12 mo, 24 mo. | Results from the different Time Frames will be published successively as the project proceeds. |
Countries
Norway
Outcome results
None listed