Gross Motor Development of Children with Congenital Heart Disease Receiving Early Systematic Surveillance and Individualized Intervention: Brief Report

ABSTRACT

Purpose: This retrospective study aims to describe the gross motor development of children aged 4 to 24 months with congenital heart disease (CHD) enrolled in a systematic developmental follow-up program and to describe the frequency of physical therapy sessions they received between 4 and 8 months of age.

Methods: Twenty-nine infants with CHD underwent motor evaluations using the AIMS at 4 months, and the Bayley-III at 12 and 24 months.

Results: Based on AIMS, 79% of 4-month-old infants had a gross motor delay and required physical therapy. Among these, 56.5% received one to two physical therapy sessions, and 43.5% received three to six sessions. Infants who benefited from regular interventions tended to show a better improvement in motor scores from 12 to 24 months.

Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of early motor screening in infants with CHD and suggests a potential benefit of early physical therapy in at-risk children.

Abbreviations: CHD: Congenital heart disease; AIMS: Alberta Infant Motor Scales; Bayley-III: Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third edition; Bayley-III/GM: Gross Motor section of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, Third edition

KEYWORDS:

• Congenital heart disease (CHD)
• gross motor development
• early intervention
• Alberta Infant Motor Scales (AIMS)
• Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development
• Third edition (Bayley-III)

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada [G-16-00012606]; Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health [NI203422]; Fonds de Recherche du Québec – Santé [28811].