Computer-based video analysis identifies infants with absence of fidgety movements

• Published in: Pediatric research Vol. 82; no. 4; pp. 665 - 670
• Main Authors: Støen, Ragnhild, Songstad, Nils Thomas, Silberg, Inger Elisabeth, Fjørtoft, Toril, Jensenius, Alexander Refsum, Adde, Lars
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Nature Publishing Group US 01.10.2017; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/699/375/1345; 692/700/139; 692/700/1421/65; 692/700/1720/3187; Age Factors; Analysis; Babies; Behavior; Cerebral Palsy - diagnosis; Cerebral Palsy - etiology; Cerebral Palsy - physiopathology; Cerebral Palsy - therapy; Child Development; clinical-investigation; Early Diagnosis; Female; Health risk assessment; Humans; Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; Infant; Male; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Motor Activity; Pediatric Surgery; Pediatrics; Predictive Value of Tests; Prospective Studies; Time Factors
• ISSN: 0031-3998; 1530-0447
• DOI: 10.1038/pr.2017.121

Background Absence of fidgety movements (FMs) at 3 months’ corrected age is a strong predictor of cerebral palsy (CP) in high-risk infants. This study evaluates the association between computer-based video analysis and the temporal organization of FMs assessed with the General Movement Assessment (GMA). Methods Infants were eligible for this prospective cohort study if referred to a high-risk follow-up program in a participating hospital. Video recordings taken at 10–15 weeks post term age were used for GMA and computer-based analysis. The variation of the spatial center of motion, derived from differences between subsequent video frames, was used for quantitative analysis. Results Of 241 recordings from 150 infants, 48 (24.1%) were classified with absence of FMs or sporadic FMs using the GMA. The variation of the spatial center of motion ( C SD ) during a recording was significantly lower in infants with normal (0.320; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.309, 0.330) vs. absence of or sporadic (0.380; 95% CI 0.361, 0.398) FMs ( P <0.001). A triage model with C SD thresholds chosen for sensitivity of 90% and specificity of 80% gave a 40% referral rate for GMA. Conclusion Quantitative video analysis during the FMs’ period can be used to triage infants at high risk of CP to early intervention or observational GMA.