| This cross-sectional study investigated the differences in postural control and fine motor skills between pre-term and full-term infants at the adjusted ages of 6 and 12 months. In addition, the relationship between postural control and fine motor skills in pre-term infants, controlling for the gender, birth weight and gestational age was evaluated. Data were collected from preemie follow-up medical records at National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Tainan, Taiwan. Data on postural control and fine more skills was obtained from score on The Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS), the Peabody Developmental Motor Scales II (PDMS-2), and the Posture and Fine Motor Assessment of Infants (PFMAI). A series of one-sample t-tests evaluated the differences in postural control and fine motor skills between pre-term and full-term infants. Multiple regression correlation analysis examined the relationship between postural control and fine motor skills in pre-term infants.;The final sample consisted of 105 participants with 54 pre-term infants at the adjusted age of 6 months and 51 pre-term infants at the adjusted age of 12 months. This study results confirm that the development of postural control as measured by the AIMS in pre-term infants at 6 and12 months adjusted age is poorer than that of full-term infants, even in those relatively healthier pre-term infants. With respect to the fine motor skills, pre-term infants at 12 months adjusted age demonstrated poorer fine motor skills than full-term infants. For pre-term infants at 6-month adjusted age, significant differences existed in the scores of fine motor skills as measured by the PDMS-2, but not by the PFMAI. The findings of this study update knowledge of pre-term infants' fine motor skills using current pre-term population. Furthermore, the results of this study support the relationship between postural control and fine motor skills that provide further evidence to support those of previous studies that only focused on the relationship between a single position or a single component of postural control and fine motor skills.;The findings of this study add to our knowledge of the overall performance of postural control and fine motor skills at 6 and 12 months adjusted age in the current pre-term population. In addition, the results of support that the development of postural control is associated to the development of fine motor skills and offer insight into the types of intervention strategies that might prove helpful for pre-term infants. |
