Predictive validity of the Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI) for Brazilian preterm children

The predictive validity of the Movement Assessment of Infants (MAI) for the detection of cerebral palsy was analyzed in 89 Brazilian infants, born with gestational age < 32 weeks and weight < 1500g. The infants were assessed with the MAI at 4 and 8 months, corrected ages, and were submitted to a neurological evaluation between the ages 2 and 7 years old. Estimates of sensibility (0.61 - 1.0), specificity (0.79 - 0.95), positive predictive value (0.48 - 0.73) and negative predictive value (0.79 - 1.0) were calculated at 4 and 8 months, for risk points > 13 and > 10. The best predictive values were obtained at 8 months, with a cut off > 13 risk points. A less restrictive criteria (> 10 points) might be useful for the prediction of motor coordination problems at school age.

prematurity; early detection; child development; cerebral palsy; predictive validity; MAI