Research Report
Population: Pediatric
Beth A Smith, PT, DPT, PhD, Assistant Professor of Research, University of Southern California beth.smith@usc.edu
Ivan Trujillo-Priego, MS, Doctoral Student, University of Southern California itrujill@usc.edu
Keywords: Prediction, Plasticity, Infants, Wearable Sensors
Purpose/Hypothesis
Our overall goal is to use full-day monitoring with small movement sensors to determine quantity, type and quality of infants’ leg movements and differentiate typical, delayed and impaired developmental trajectories very early in infancy. Here we present preliminary work on quantity of infants’ leg movements for infants with typical development (TD) and infants with or at risk for developmental delay (AR).
Materials/Methods
We have collected data from 12/12 infants with TD (1-12 months of age) and 9/24 infants AR (1-24 months of age). We collected a full day (ranging from 8-13 hours) of leg movement activity from each infant. Infants with TD were measured 3 times each, with 2 months between measurements. Infants AR have been measured 1 to 3 times to date. Tri-axial linear acceleration (m/s2) and angular velocity (rad/s) were collected at 20 Hz from sensors attached to the right and left ankles. We used our custom, validated algorithm to determine the number of leg movements produced in a day for each leg. A separate leg movement was counted each time a leg paused or changed direction. We determined a leg movement rate for each visit as the average number of movements (average of right and left legs) per hour of awake time. For a preliminary analysis of whether infants with TD had a higher leg movement rate than infants AR, we used a one-way Analysis of Variance to test for a group difference at alpha = 0.05.
Results
Average leg movement rate for infants with TD was 1864 movements per hour of awake time (SD = 675). Average leg movement rate for infants AR was 1211 movements per hour of awake time (SD = 407). Preliminary analysis supports that infants with TD had a higher leg movement rate than infants AR (F= 17.45, df=1,58, p< 0.01).
Conclusions
Preliminary analysis supports the detection of differences in full-day leg movement quantity between infants with TD and AR. The next steps are to determine whether leg movement quantity relates to developmental rate and outcomes (prediction) and to analyze type and quality of movement.
Clinical Relevance
Very early identification of impaired infant neuromotor control is necessary for initiating and targeting early therapeutic intervention to promote positive neural plasticity and optimal development. Full-day assessment is desirable due to high inherent variability in infant performance and temperament.
Support: This work was funded in part by an American Physical Therapy Association Section on Pediatrics Research Grant 1 and 2 Awards (PI-Smith). Dr. Smith is supported by K12-HD055929 (PI – Ottenbacher).
Citation:
Smith, Beth A, PT, DPT, PhD; Trujillo-Priego, Ivan , MS. Using full-day infant leg movement assessment to predict developmental outcomes.. Poster Presentation. IV STEP Conference, American Physical Therapy Association, Columbus, OH, July 17, 2016. Online. https://u.osu.edu/ivstep/poster/abstracts/097_smith-trujillo-priego/