The Infant Motor Profile: a standardized and qualitative method to assess motor behaviour in infancy

Abstract

A reliable and valid instrument to assess neuromotor condition in infancy is a prerequisite for early detection of developmental motor disorders. We developed a video-based assessment of motor behaviour, the Infant Motor Profile (IMP), to evaluate motor abilities, movement variability, ability to select motor strategies, movement symmetry, and fluency. The IMP consists of 80 items and is applicable in children from 3 to 18 months. The present study aimed to test intra-and interobserver reliability and concurrent validity of the IMP with the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) and Touwen neurological examination. The study group consisted of 40 low-risk term (median gestational age [GA] 40wks, range 38-42wks) and 40 high-risk preterm infants (median GA 29.6wks, range 26-33wks) with corrected ages 4 to 18 months (31 females, 49 males). Intra-and interobserver agreement of the IMP were satisfactory (Spearman's rho=0.9). Concurrent validity of IMP and AIMS was good (Spearman's rho=0.8, p<0.005). The IMP was able to differentiate between infants with normal neurological condition, simple minor neurological dysfunction (MND), complex MND, and abnormal neurological condition (p<0.005). This means that the IMP may be a promising tool to evaluate neurological integrity during infancy, a suggestion that needs confirmation by means of assessment of larger groups of infants with heterogeneous neurological conditions.

Use and functioning of the affected limb in children with unilateral congenital below-elbow deficiency during infancy and preschool age: A longitudinal observational multiple case study

“…Therefore, a larger study is needed to generalize the findings to all children with UCBED. The strengths of the study are the longitudinal design from infancy onwards and the application of a systematic analysis of spontaneous behaviour with and without prosthesis [22].…”

Variation and Variability: Key Words in Human Motor Development

“…110 The growing awareness that the quality of motor behavior may assist in the evaluation of the child's neuromotor condition inspired the development of 3 new assessment methods; the Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP), 114 the GM method, 58,115 and the Infant Motor Profile (IMP). 116 The TIMP and the GM method are applicable till the age of 4 months postterm, whereas the IMP is designed for infants aged 3 to 18 months postterm. In contrast to the other 2 instruments, the TIMP does not use variation or variability as explicit parameters of movement quality.…”

Age at First Prosthetic Fitting and Later Functional Outcome in Children and Young Adults with Unilateral Congenital Below-Elbow Deficiency

“…16 Second, the quality of motor behavior of the 10 tasks was also rated in global terms with regard to the ability to adapt motility to the specifics of the situation, in a similar manner to the Infant Motor Profile (IMP). 17 To this end each task was scored in a dichotomous way (yes/no). Adaptive motor behavior means the presence of wellcoordinated and efficient movement.…”