ASSESSMENT OF GROSS MOTOR-SKILLS OF AT-RISK INFANTS - PREDICTIVE-VALIDITY OF THE ALBERTA INFANT MOTOR SCALE

The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) is a norm-referenced measure of infant gross motor development. The objectives of this study were: (1) to establish the best cut-off scores on the AIMS for predictive purpo ses, and (2) to compare the predictive abilities of the AIMS with thos e of the Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI) and the Peabody Developm ental Gross Motor Scale (PDGMS). One hundred and sixty-four infants we re assessed at 4 and 8 months adjusted ages on the three measures. A p ediatrician assessed each infant's gross motor development at 18 month s as normal, suspicious, or abnormal. For the AIMS, two different cut- off points were identified: the 10th centile at 4 months and the 5th c entile at 8 months. The MAI provided the best specificity rates at 4 m onths while the AIMS was superior in specificity at 8 months. Sensitiv ity rates were comparable between the two tests. The PDGMS in general demonstrated poor predictive abilities.