Influence of gestational age on early neuromotor development in the preterm infant.

ABSTRACT

The impact of the extrauterine environment on the early neuromotor development of a cohort of 73 normally developing preterm infants was assessed prospectively by comparing the neurologic maturation from birth to term of two groups of infants born at different gestational ages (less than 32 weeks; 32 to 36 weeks). Assessments were performed at 32, 35, and 40 weeks postconceptional age. Detailed analyses revealed that the neuromotor performance at the three points in time of the two gestational age groups of preterm infants did not differ. These findings suggest that the early neuromotor development from birth to term of the normally developing preterm infant is essentially unaffected by the gestational age at birth.