Highlights
- Motor problems in infancy are associated with poorer outcomes at school-age.
- Mental health is not affected by motor problems in infancy.
- No evidence for a beneficial effect of treatment with physiotherapy was found.
Abstract
Background – Early motor coordination problems have previously been associated with various developmental outcomes at school-age.
Aims – Investigate whether and how treatment with physiotherapy may alter associations between early motor problems and subsequent developmental outcomes.
Study Design – A prospective whole-population study.
Subjects – 1374 children were followed from birth to 8 years.
Outcome measures – Early motor functioning was determined with standard neurological examinations at birth and at 5 months. Information on receipt of physiotherapy was collected through parent interviews at 5, 20 and 56 months. Developmental outcomes at 6 and 8 years included motor skills, mental health, cognitive function, and attention regulation and were determined through standard tests, parent reports and observed behavior ratings.
Results – Early motor problems were associated with lower motor skills, cognitive function, and attention regulation at school-age, but not with mental health. In addition to early motor problems, receipt of physiotherapy was independently and negatively related to outcomes at school-age. Accounting for imbalances in covariates, including initial motor scores, via propensity score matching attenuated the adverse effects of receipt of physiotherapy on school-aged outcomes.
Conclusions – Infant motor problems are associated with motor and cognitive outcomes at school-age. Early motor problems may represent a starting point of a trajectory of difficulties that may lead to a higher risk of problems in multiple developmental domains. No evidence for a beneficial effect of treatment with physiotherapy was found.
Baumann, N., Tresilian, J., & Wolke, D. (2020). Effects of infant motor problems and treatment with physiotherapy on child outcomes at school-age. Early Human Development, 149, 105140. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2020.105140