Abstract

FERREIRA, Anna Paula Aca et al. Visual behavior and the motor development of premature newborns in the first month of life. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2011, vol.21, n.2, pp. 335-343. ISSN 0104-1282.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the visual behavior and the motor development of premature newborns (RNPT) with one month of age corrected, born in the maternity of a school hospital. METHOD: Descriptive study, sectional in the first month of age corrected in a cohort of a premature newborn, by using as instruments the Evaluation Method of the Visual behavior in newborns and the Alberta Infant Movement Scale (AIMS). RESULTS: It was observed that the premature newborns presented expected answers for the tests that evaluate the oculomotor behavior and with lower frequencies for the test of smile, in agreement with the method of evaluation utilized in the study. In the motor evaluation (AIMS), 25% presented below the percentage 5; 8.3% had percentage 5; 8.3% had percentage 10; 25% had percentage 25; 8.3% had percentage 50 and 25% had percentage 75. CONCLUSION: The results obtained in this study showed that in despite of the small sample it was possible to observe a typical delay in the motor development in RNPT through an adequate instrument of evaluation. It was evident that the gestational age influenced the performance of the newborns and that the premature newborns even with the corrected age are still behind the full term babies regarding the acquisition of motor development, indicating the need of alert to the development at the percentile 10 or below, even presenting satisfactory performance in the visual behavior. Age correction was a significant factor facilitating in the understanding of the visual and motor acquisitions in RNPT.

Keywords : assessment; motor development; premature newborns; visual function.

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