Is late walking a marker of morbidity? Steering Committee, Oxford Region Child Development Project.
We identified 410 infants who were not walking independently by the age of 18 months from among a geographically defined population of 4275 infants who either were born weighing less than 2000 g or had needed admission to the special care nursery in the neonatal period. The outcome of the late walkers was ascertained at the age of 3 years by health visitors using a standard questionnaire. Of the late walkers, 230 (56%) had an associated abnormality diagnosed before the age of 3 years, and in 77 of these children (33%) this was definite or suspected cerebral palsy. The high prevalence of late walking among infants born before 28 weeks' gestation (46%) was almost entirely accounted for by a high incidence of impairment. Late walking is a simple marker of morbidity in this group of infants.
Johnson
A
A
Oxford Region Child Development Project, John Radcliffe Hospital.
Goddard
O
O
Ashurst
H
H
D000367:Age Factors; D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002658:Developmental Disabilities / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors