Division of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Department of Physical Therapy, School of Rehabilitation Sciences, Niigata University of Health and Welfare, Niigata, Japan.
Infancy. 2021 Sep;26(5):756-769. doi: 10.1111/infa.12424. Epub 2021 Jul 20.
Infants born very preterm (PT), prior to 32 weeks gestation, are at increased risk of developing cerebral palsy. Children with spastic cerebral palsy have impaired selective leg joint movement, which contributes to lifelong walking limitations. We investigated whether infants born PT generated more selective hip-knee joint movement (e.g., hip flexes as knee extends) while participating in a scaffolded mobile task. Infants born PT and infants born full-term (FT) at 4 months corrected age participated in a scaffolded mobile task for 2-3 consecutive days. The scaffolded mobile task required infants to raise their legs vertically over a virtual threshold. Three threshold heights (low, middle, and high) were used to test whether the middle and high heights encourage infants to move their legs more selectively. Fifteen infants born FT learned the task and showed more selective hip-knee movement at each of the three threshold heights on the day that they learned, compared with their baseline spontaneous kicking. Thirteen infants born PT learned the task and showed more selective hip-knee movement on their learning day, but only when the middle and high thresholds were used. The results show that the scaffolded mobile task effectively encouraged infants to generate more selective hip-knee joint movement.
极早产儿（PT），即妊娠 32 周前出生的婴儿，患脑瘫的风险增加。痉挛型脑瘫儿童的腿部关节活动受到限制，导致其终生行走受限。本研究旨在探讨 PT 出生婴儿在参与有支撑的移动任务时是否会产生更多的选择性髋关节-膝关节运动（例如，髋关节弯曲，膝关节伸展）。4 月龄校正年龄的 PT 出生婴儿和 FT 出生婴儿连续 2-3 天参与有支撑的移动任务。有支撑的移动任务要求婴儿将腿垂直抬高越过虚拟门槛。使用三种门槛高度（低、中、高）来测试中间和高门槛是否鼓励婴儿更有选择性地移动腿部。15 名 FT 出生的婴儿学会了这项任务，与基线自发踢腿相比，在学习当天的三个门槛高度上都表现出了更具选择性的髋关节-膝关节运动。13 名 PT 出生的婴儿学会了这项任务，并且只在使用中高门槛时表现出更具选择性的髋关节-膝关节运动。研究结果表明，有支撑的移动任务有效地鼓励婴儿产生更具选择性的髋关节-膝关节运动。
