Testing high risk babies at 3 months of age could help identify cerebral palsy

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2024-05-07 03:00

Australia; VIC

Image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay

Early testing of three- or four-month-old babies who are at high risk of cerebral palsy was able to reliably predict the condition and its severity at two and three years old, according to Australian research. The study looked at 116 babies who were born either extremely preterm, preterm with extremely low birth weight, or who had a lack of oxygen to the brain before or shortly after birth, putting them at high risk of cerebral palsy. The authors found that they were able to accurately identify the babies with cerebral palsy even at the very young age of three to four months, enabling early interventions with the potential to influence the progression of the disease.

Media release

From: JAMA

Early Neurodevelopmental Assessments for Predicting Long-Term Outcomes in Infants at High Risk of Cerebral Palsy

JAMA Network Open
Original Investigation

Media advisory: The full study is linked to this news release. This study is being released to coincide with presentation at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting.

About JAMA Network Open: JAMA Network Open is an online-only open access general medical journal from the JAMA Network. On weekdays, the journal publishes peer-reviewed clinical research and commentary in more than 40 medical and health subject areas. Every article is free online from the day of publication.

About The Study: The results of this study support the potential to identify cerebral palsy and its severity as early as corrected age 3 to 4 months through early neurodevelopmental assessments, but the role of these tests is limited in identifying cognitive and neurodevelopmental impairments.

Authors: Abdul Razak, M.D., of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, is the corresponding author.

(doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.9053)

Editor’s Note: Please see the article for additional information, including other authors, author contributions and affiliations, conflict of interest and financial disclosures, and funding and support.

# # #

Attachments

Note: Not all attachments are visible to the general public. Research URLs will go live after the embargo ends.

Research JAMA, Web page Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo ends).

Journal/
conference: JAMA Network Open

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Monash University, Hudson Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney

Funder: Dr Razak is supported by a doctoral scholarship from Monash University and The Lions Cord Blood Foundation.

Media Contact/s

Contact details are only visible to registered journalists.