title: A method to assess the development of muscle power in preterms after term age.
abstract: The purpose of this paper is to report a detailed description of an instrument for evaluating the development of active and passive muscle power in preterms beyond term age. The instrument is constructed on a basis of age-specific items that assess these two components of muscle power and on the assumption that a persistent discrepancy between them serves to detect those preterms at most risk for disturbances in motor development. The application of the instrument is illustrated by reporting the individual trajectories of five case studies without any serious medical complications. It is concluded that if a marked discrepancy between active and passive power persists beyond the corrected age of 3 months, then this may be a sign of underlying pathology which will eventuate in abnormal postural outcomes and thereby disturbances in the control and coordination of movement. Having now provided a detailed description of how this instrument should be applied in postterm follow-up of preterm infants, we are currently examining its sensitivity and specificity on a much larger sample of similar subjects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Educational Sciences, Faculty of Human Movement Sciences, Free University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: de Groot
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hopkins
authors.forename: B C
authors.initials: BC
authors.lastname: Touwen
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009048:Motor Skills / Q000502:physiology; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D009129:Muscle Tonus / Q000502:physiology; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000379:methods*; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values