Abstract
The Prechtl Neurological Examination of the Newborn was administered to 50 infants at approximately 40 weeks (± 1 week) gestational age. These infants were randomly selected from the normal nursery and special care units. Twenty five were healthy, fullterm infants (x B.W. = 2740 grams) (x G.A. = 39.4 weeks). The remaining 25 infants were born prematurely with multiple perinatal complications including respiratory distress, hyperbilirubinemia, apnea etc. (x B.W. = 1652 grams) (x G.A. = 33.5 weeks). The length of hospitalization in this group varied (x = 30 days). None of these infants suffered from severe central nervous system abnormalities, chromosomal anomalies, nor major metabolic disturbances. The Prechtl Examination was performed by the same examiner in all infants at approximately the same time post-feeding. Infants were in the quiet-alert state at the initiation of the examination. A scoring system based on the 55 items comprising the Prechtl Exam was established. A student t test for independent samples was performed on the total score received by each infant. The preterm infants were found to have a significantly better overall performance on this assessment than did the full-term infants (p < .05). These results suggest that sick premature infants have accelerated maturation which may result from intense stimulation they received during a extended stay in a Special Care Nursery. The long-term predictability of this examination has yet to be determined.
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Brennan, M., Bauer, C. 1562 A COMPARISON OF PRETERM AND FULL-TERM INFANTS USING THE PRECHTL NEUROLOGICAL EXAMINATION. Pediatr Res 15 (Suppl 4), 703 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-01579
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198104001-01579