Movement initiation and execution in 6 - 8 year old children born preterm: effects of gestational age and physical activity
Abstract: The purpose of this study was to explore differences in movement initiation and execution, and their associations with amount of physical activity (PA) and cognitive abilities, in 6 to 8 year old children born PT compared to peers born at term. The sample consisted of in total 78 children divided in subgroups, 16 born very preterm (VPT), 24 born moderate preterm (MPT) and 38 age matched controls born at term (FT) with no diagnosed cognitive or motor impairments. Three-dimensional (3D) kinematic recordings of wrist movements during two bimanual tapping tasks (horizontal and vertical) were finalized and kinematic outcome measures were investigated in relation to PA and performance on WISC-IV. Children born VPT showed significantly longer Latency times and longer Duration of movement execution compared to children born MPT and FT. No significant within group correlations between PA and movement performance were found. Duration of movement execution and Total duration of movement execution were negatively associated with Full-scale intelligence quotient (FSIQ) and processing speed index (SI) in the PT group. Early school aged children born VPT need longer planning time to initiate and execute goal directed bimanual movements, compared to peers born MPT and FT. Kinematic performance did not evidently associate with amount of PA, although kinematics, by means of longer Latency time and Duration of movement execution, negatively associated with SI.
AT THIS PAGE YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE WHOLE ESSAY. (follow the link to the next page)