DefinePK

Abstract

Background: Late preterm infants are the neonates whose birth occur on the beginning of 239th day (34 0/7 weeks’ gestation) to the ending of 259th day (36 6/7 weeks’ gestation) since the onset of the first day of mother’s last normal menstrual period presented with delayed milestones in terms of their gross motor performance.
Objective: To describe gross motor performance among late preterm infants in relation to their chronological age.
Methodology: An observational descriptive cross-sectional survey on a total of 49 patients (n=49) was conducted at Children Hospital, Lahore with non-probability convenient sampling technique (1). Late preterm infants, both male and female between age 2-18 months were included, diagnosed cases of cerebral palsy, Spina bifida, Developmental dysplasia of hip, Down syndrome and Muscular dystrophy were excluded. Alberta infant motor scale (AIMS) was used for assessment after taking written consent from parents of infants (2).
Results: The mean age of 49 infants were 8.15 months and the standard deviation 4.479. There were 27 (55%) males and 22 (45%) females out of 49 infants. Out of Forty-Nine late preterm infants, 31(63%) infants were presented with atypical performance, 7(14%) with suspected performance, 7(14%) with normal performance, 1(2%) with good performance and 3(6%) with excellent performance as indicated by their respective percentile ranks.
Conclusion: Late preterm infants show lower gross motor performance as most of the infants were presented with atypical performance.
Keywords: Late preterm infants, Gross motor performance, Alberta infant motor scale