Preterm birth is an event that affects the child's healthy development. Several studies have addressed the evaluation of children born preterm and the influence that multiple risk factors have on the course of their development. This study performed a systematic review of the literature from 2000 to 2005 about the evaluation of the development of children born preterm until the age of 24 months. The biological risk factors were present in every study, with highlights on intraventricular hemorrhage, necrotizing enterocolitis, chronic pulmonary disease, and retardation of intrauterine development as the most studied risks. The child's motor development was the most studied area. In terms of age, the first evaluations focused on the first six months of life. Neonatal risk, low birth weight, baby boys, cerebral injuries, and first-week abnormal spontaneous movements were predicting factors of preterm child development at the age of two years.

A paralisia cerebral (PC) é um conjunto de desordens posturais e do movimento que causam limitações funcionais; é atribuída a distúrbios não-progressivos, porém mutáveis, decorrentes de lesão do cérebro imaturo. Os objetivos do estudo foram identificar as dimensões funcionais comprometidas e observar a evolução da função motora grossa de crianças com PC submetidas a tratamento multidisciplinar em um intervalo de quatro meses. A amostra foi composta por 27 crianças com PC (média de idade 7,6 anos) que freqüentavam a Associação Pestalozzi de Goiânia, GO. O nível de comprometimento das crianças foi atribuído segundo o sistema de classificação da função motora grossa GMFCS (Gross motor function classification system); a medida de função motora grossa GMFM (Gross motor function measure) foi aplicada no início do estudo e após quatro meses. Os resultados mostram que 55,6% das crianças estavam nos níveis IV e V do GMFCS; foi verificada evolução da função motora grossa em todas as dimensões avaliadas pela GMFM, exceto na postura sentada - sugerindo que as transferências de postura e a locomoção devem ser focalizadas no tratamento multidisciplinar dessas crianças com CP.

Preterm infants, 1-12 months of age, showed motor development AIMS scores lower than the standards established in the normative sample. The findings may contribute as norm-reference for assessing the motor development of preterm infants in follow-up programmes in developing countries.

O presente estudo teve por objetivo avaliar a eficácia de um programa de intervenção, com e sem treinamento das mães, no desenvolvimento de bebês pré-termo. Participaram do estudo 08 bebês pré-termo e suas mães, oriundos do Serviço de Acompanhamento e Intervenção em Bebês de Risco da cidade de São Carlos, SP. Os participantes foram divididos em dois grupos: 04 bebês participaram do grupo intervenção com orientação e treinamento das mães (grupo experimental - GE) e 04 bebês participaram do grupo intervenção sem orientação e treinamento das mães (grupo controle - GC). Os bebês foram avaliados pelo Inventário Portage, operacionalizado por um período de quatro meses, considerando as seguintes áreas: estimulação infantil, socialização, cognição, linguagem, autocuidados e desenvolvimento motor. Os dados foram submetidos à análise de regressão. Os resultados demonstraram que os bebês do GE obtiveram maior evolução dos comportamentos avaliados em relação ao GC.

Braga AKP; Rodovalho JC; Formiga CKMR. Evolução do crescimento e desenvolvimento neuropsicomotor de crianças pré-escolares de zero a dois anos do município de Goiânia (GO). Rev Bras Cresc e Desenv Hum 2011; 21(2): 230-239. RESUMOOs objetivos do estudo foram analisar a evolução do crescimento e desenvolvimento de crianças pré-escolares em creches de Goiânia e verificar a associação entre fatores de risco no crescimento e desenvolvimento das crianças. Participaram 39 crianças, de ambos os sexos, de zero a dois anos de idade. As crianças foram avaliadas em três momentos, com intervalo de dois meses entre as avaliações. O crescimento foi avaliado pelas medidas antropométricas de peso e altura e o desenvolvimento foi avaliado pelo Teste de Denver II. A maioria das crianças apresentou crescimento normal. Na primeira avaliação 46% das crianças apresentaram risco para o desenvolvimento, na segunda avaliação 28% de risco e na última avaliação 44%, sendo a linguagem a área mais defasada. Variáveis que tiveram relação com o déficit do crescimento e atraso no desenvolvimento: maior idade materna, menor Apgar 5º minuto, crianças do sexo masculino, menor peso adquirido na gravidez e mães desempregadas.Palavras-chave: crescimento infantil; desenvolvimento infantil; pré-escolar; fatores de risco; detecção de atrasos. Rev Bras Crescimento Desenvolvimento Hum. 2011; 21(2): 230-239 PESQUISA ORIGINAL ORIGINAL RESEARCH

BackgroundThe prevalence of obesity is increasing in the population, particularly in women. Obesity has an impact on the musculoskeletal system, leading to knee and ankle overexertion, difficulty with balance, and functional disability. The aim of this study was to identify changes in kinematic parameters of gait in obese young women.MethodsA case-control study with 24 obese women (mean age 35.20 ± 9.9 years and mean body mass index of 31.85 ± 2.94 kg/m2) and 24 eutrophic women (mean age of 36.33 ± 11.14 and mean body mass index of 21.82 ± 1.58 kg/m2). The gait of women was evaluated by the system Vicon Motus® 9.2. The linear parameters of speed, cadence, right and left step, and stride lengths were studied, as well as the angular parameters of knee and ankle.ResultsThere was a decrease in linear gait parameters (P < 0.001), speed, cadence, right and left step, and stride lengths. In regard to the angular parameters of the knee and ankle, there were also differences between the analyses (P < 0.001). At the knee joint, obese women have delayed onset of the second wave of flexion, exacerbating such movement in order to compensate. In regard to the ankle, both groups showed curves of normal plantar flexion and dorsiflexion, but there was a delay in the path graph in the ankle of obese women indicating a reduced range of motion and possible over-exertion of the pretibial muscles and soleus muscles simultaneously.ConclusionThe results of this study revealed that obesity is a factor that negatively influences the kinematic parameters of gait of young women.

Background: Motor development occurs throughout periods of motor skill acquisition, adjustment and variability. The objectives of this study were to analyze and compare biological and health characteristics and motor skill acquisition trajectories in preterm and full-term infants during the first year of life. Methods: Two thousand, five hundred and seventy-nine infants (1,361 preterm) from 22 states were assessed using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale. Multivariate General Linear Model, t-tests, ANOVA, and Tukey tests were used. Results: An age 9 group significant interaction was found for motor scores. On follow-up tests full-term infants had higher scores in prone, supine, sitting and standing postures that require trunk control from 9 to 10 months of age; although this advantage was observed for sitting from the second month of life. Conclusion: During the first trimester of life, preterm infants have higher scores in the supine and standing postures. Regarding motor trajectories, from newborn to 12 months, the period of higher motor acquisition was similar between full-term and preterm infants for prone (3-10 months), supine (1-6 months), and standing (6-12 months). For the sitting posture, however, full-term infants had a period of intensive motor learning of acquisition from the first to 7 months of life, whereas for preterm infants a shorter period was observed (3-7 months). Conclusion: Although the periods of higher motor acquisition were similar, full-term infants had higher scores in more control-demanding postures. Intervention for preterm infants needs to extend beyond the first months of life, and include guidance to parents to promote motor development strategies to achieve control in the higher postures.

Several biological and environmental risk factors influence the development of preterm infants. The objective of this study was to assess risk factors for development delay in preterm infants born with low birth weight, focusing on the following domains: neurobehavioral achievements in the neonatal phase, as well as personal-social, language and motor developments in the first 8 months of postnatal age. We also aimed to: identify the better predictive model for development, based on the biological and socioeconomic variables measured in our sample of low birth weight preterm; to longitudinally follow and to describe the development of these infants during the first 8 months of corrected chronological age (CA); to test the psychometric parameters and to estimate the predictive value of the Neurobehavioral Assessment of Preterm Infant (NAPI) and Denver II tests (DDST-II), in assessing the motor development of the infants. Our sample consisted of 190 preterm infants (< 37 weeks of gestational age) and with low birth weight (<2,500 grams) seen during their first year of age, born and initially assisted at a neonatal specialty center at the Infant Maternity Hospital of Goiania (GO), Brazil. At the neonatal phase, the infants were assessed using the NAPI test; from 2-4 months of CA, we used the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP); from 4-6 months and 6-8 months of CA, we used, the DDST-II; from 6-8 months of CA, we used the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS). Initial assessments were performed in the neonatal unit of intermediate risk (while the infants were hospitalized); subsequent assessments were conducted in our outpatient hospital clinic (ambulatory) for high risk infants. Descriptive statistics included mean, range, and standard deviation for continuous variables, and frequency and percentage for categorical variables. The in-between group comparisons were conducted using the Chi-square Test or Student T Test. For predictive assessments, we used logistical regression. The significance level for each test was set at 5%. Over 31% of the infants in our sample showed signs of impaired neurobehavioral development in the neonatal phase. Infants assessed from 2-4 months xiv of CA had 51% of risk for developmental problems according to the DDST-II; 48% obtained abnormal classifications in the TIMP. Similarly, 43 % of the infants were at risk in the DDST-II, and 47% had abnormal motor development according to the AIMS at 4-6 months of CA. At 6-8 months of CA, 33% of the infants were at risk as per the DDST-II, and 36% of the infants had abnormal motor development according to the AIMS. When comparing the development of the infants as per the chronological and corrected age, it became evident the needs for correcting the age in all assessed age-ranges. The main variables imposing risk and influencing the development of our sample were: weight <1.500g; gestational age ≤32 weeks; high neonatal clinical risk; presence of intracranial hemorrhage; lack of natural breast feeding; low levels of education by the household head...