A COMPARISON OF 3 PROCEDURES TO ASSESS THE MOTOR ABILITY OF 12-MONTH-OLD INFANTS WITH CEREBRAL-PALSY

This study compared three methods of assessing motor impairment during infancy. The 77 infants studied were considered to be at high risk of motor impairment because of abnormal neonatal cranial ultrasound scan s or abnormal somatosensory responses. The children were assessed at e ight and 12 months post-term by the Movement Assessment of Infants, th e Griffiths locomotor development quotient and the limb-by-limb approa ch, and the results were compared with clinical assessment at 12 month s post-term. The sensitivity of the limb-by-limb approach was highest, although its specificity was slightly lower than the other tests. It was also the easiest to perform. While giving information about the qu ality of movement, none of these methods is a quantitative test of mov ement.