Prognostic value of the Hammersmith neurological examination and general movement assessment in children with neurological disorders.

Objective: To study the prognostic value of evaluation of general movements and neurological examination Hammersmith in children with neurological disorders. Methods: The researchers conducted a prospective cohort study. General movements, Motor Optimal Score is performed at the age of 3 days; 4 weeks; 8 weeks, 12 weeks, 16 weeks, 20 weeks. Hammersmith score at the age of 6 months and 12 months. The relationship between the assessment of the Hammersmith neurological examination and generalized movements was evaluated. Results: 7556 children were born in the Regional Perinatal Center. Of these, the number of full-term children was 6928 (91.6%). Of all examined children (6928), abnormal movements on the 3rd day of life were observed in 171 children (2.5%). All of the above children with abnormal movements were under catamnestic observation. The dependence of the initial data on the MOS scale with the Hammersmith neurological examination was analyzed. A direct strong relationship was revealed between the indicators of the assessment of general movements by MOS and the neurological assessment by Hammersmith (HINE 0.848598, MOS 0.848598). There is a strong direct relationship between the analyzed values (r=0.8), the coefficients of the regression equation are statistically significant. Conclusions: The evaluation of the Hammersmith neurological examination and the evaluation of general movements by the Prechtl method have a high strong relationship, which predicted outcomes in newborns with neurological disorders with high accuracy. These methods help to diagnose at an early stage and justify the beginning of early intervention.
Keywords: Prechtl general movement assessment, developmental neurology; paediatric neurology; preventive medicine.