Postural and Fine Motor Control in Preterm Infants in the First Six Months

Abstract

This study analyzed the differences in posture and fine motor control between at-risk preterm and full-term infants. On a qualitative measure with a sample of 65 full-term and 25 preterm infants, the full-term infants scored significantly higher in all aspects of posture and fine motor control than the preterm infants of the same adjusted ages. When the preterm infants were further categorized by number of medical risk factors, the postural differences existed only in preterm infants with high risk factors. All preterm infants (those with high and low risk factors) demonstrated less fine motor control when compared to full-term. These results have implicated regarding the qualitative differences that may be observed in preterm infants during the first months of life.