Comportamento motor espontâneo e voluntário de lactentes prematuros

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the quantity and quality of spontaneous and voluntary motor behavior of infants at biological risk for delayed neuropsychomotor development. Method: Cross-sectional study with convenience sampling. Five biological risk infants, born prematurely (31±3.6 weeks), with low birth weight (1.576±0.74), with or without risk of neurological injury, and mean corrected age of (6±3.5 months). Spontaneous and voluntary motor behavior was assessed using the Infant Motor Profile (IMP) observational assessment instrument. For this, the infant was positioned on a mat to observe spontaneous and voluntary motor activity without interaction with the examinee. Then, motor activity was elicited through attractive and unfamiliar objects. The infant was evaluated in the supine, prone, sitting, and standing postures, as well as the skills of reaching, grasping, and manipulating objects. Spontaneous and voluntary motor behavior was measured using the domains of variation, adaptability, symmetry, fluency and motor performance. Results: At 4 months of corrected age, infant showed a reduction in the repertoire of head, upper limb and hand movements during reaching, grasping and manipulating objects (variation: 80%) and in the ability to modulate accelerations and decelerations of movements (fluency: 70%). Conclusion: Moderate to late preterm and low birth weight infants may present quantity and quality of spontaneous and voluntary motor behavior below that expected for the ages of 4 and 12 months of corrected age when not included early in intervention programs. These data reinforce the importance of evaluating and monitoring not only infants born very and/or extremely premature, but also those born later, such as moderate to late preterm infants. New studies are needed. Keywords: Learning. Behavior. Risk factors. Child development. Premature Infant. Motor Disorders.