A TIMP-based assessment for early motor performance in cerebral palsy toddlers

Abstract

Objective To explore the characteristics of early motor performance in toddlers with cerebral palsy by analyzing the results of Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) when they were at an age of 2 to 4 months. Methods A cross-sectional trial was conducted on 17 children who were followed up in the Preterm High-Risk Infant Follow-Up Clinic of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University as high-risk premature infants and diagnosed with cerebral palsy after 1 year of age from December 2018 to December 2022. The results of their TIMP assessments at an age of 2~4 months. With the data of TIMP Chinese norm samples at the same age as controls, the Z-values were calculated and the total score of TIMP, scores of the 7 postural subgroups (including totally 42 items), and scores of these 42 items were calculated and compared between the 2 groups. Results The Z-value of the total TIMP score for the cerebral palsy infants aged 2~4 months was only -0.95±1.11, which was significantly lower than that the expected score(P < 0.01). Similarly, the Z-values for the scores of sitting position, lateral orientation, turning over, and standing position in the postural subgroups were -0.89±0.88, -1.17±0.66, -0.43±0.79, and -0.63±0.77, respectively, and all of these scores for sitting position, lateral orientation, and standing position (P < 0.01). There were no notable differences between the Chinese norms and the cerebral palsy children in terms of observation items, supine position, or prone position. Out of the 42 items, the cerebral palsy children had significantly lower scores than the Chinese norms in 17 items, with the items 15 (head control in sitting position), 16 (head control posterior neck muscle), 26 (defensive reaction-arm movements), 32 (head control in the pull-to-sit maneuver), 33 (pull the upper limb into lateral positions), 34 (lateral hip abduction reaction), and 40 (standing) most significant in turn. Conclusion The motor performance of sitting, lateral orientation, and standing should be given particular attention during the follow-up of high-risk children with cerebral palsy, and these performances may indicate the need for early detection of the condition.

Keywords

• test of infant motor performance
• cerebral palsy
• motor assessment