Neurological assessment in infants discharged from a neonatal intensive care unit

BackgroundLongitudinal motor assessment in infants at different neurodevelopmental risk has not been previously evaluated using structured assessments.AimTo verify if the Hammersmith Infant Neurological Examination (HINE) is a good tool to predict the neuromotor outcome in infants discharged from a level II–III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU)MethodsIn this cohort analysis, 1541 infants discharged from our NICU between January of 2002 and the April 2006 were enrolled and assessed using the HINE at 3, 6, 9, 12 months. At two years, these infants were further assessed, and grouped into infants with normal outcome (1150), with mild disability (321) and with cerebral palsy (70),ResultsCorrelation analysis of Spearman showed a significant (p < 0.0001) and moderate (r2 = −0.55 to −0.73) negative correlation between HINE scores (3, 6, 9, 12 months) and neurological outcome at two years. Cut-off scores for each assessment' age were provided as predictive value for cerebral palsy.DiscussionThis study mainly showed that HINE, as soon as the first months of life, helps in the process of prediction of neurological outcome at two years of age in a heterogeneous population of infants discharged from an NICU.