title: Movement quality in preterm infants prior to term.
abstract: Quality of spontaneous movement behavior (fluency, spatio-temporal variation and sequencing) was studied from birth to term in high-risk preterm (n = 18), low-risk preterm (n = 18) and term (n = 20) infants. Cranial ultrasonography was performed during the first week of life and the child's general health was considered. The results were as follows: (1) In their first week of life, preterm infants displayed lower scores on all quality parameters when compared to term infants (p < 0.001). (2) Quality of spatiotemporal variation and sequencing decreased up to term (p < 0.01). These findings could be attributed to maturational differences, too early exposure to an extrauterine environment, and cerebral lesions.
authors.affiliation: University Children's Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland. Tanja.Kakebeeke@unifr.ch
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kakebeeke
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Siebenthal
authors.forename: R H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Largo
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging; D001927:Brain Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D004453:Echoencephalography; D005865:Gestational Age; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*