Abstract des Autors

This study was intended to determine various indices of motor ability in 5- to 7-year-old children, born at extremely low birthweight (ELBW: 500-999 g, n=14, 6.4+/-0.1y) and very low birthweight (VLBW: 1000-1499 g, n=20, 6.7+/-0.1y) with no manifestation of any overt neuromuscular disability in comparison to normal birthweight (NBW: >2500 g, n=24, 6.4+/-0.1y) term controls. The following data were collected: simple reaction time (RT) of the legs (msec), several components of whole body and inter- and intralimb coordination (MQ), maximal cycling speed (CSmax) (rpm) of a 30 sec cycling task at "zero" resistance (Fleisch Metabo, Switzerland), anaerobic muscle endurance (MP) and power (PP) (30 sec Wingate Test). The main finding was a deficiency in performance of the ELBW children compared with the VLBW and NBW groups (p<0.05). Results: Mean RT: 403+/-115, 339+/-58, 342+/-48 msec for ELBW, VLBW and NBW, respectively; MQ: 73.4+/-10.3, 81.5+/-11, 84.6+/-4; CSmax: 128+/-13, 143+/-11, 143+/-13 rpm; PP/kg: 6.2+/-0.8, 7.2+/-0.9, 7.3+/-1 W/kg; MP/kg: 3.8+/-0.6, 4.8+/-0.6, 4.5+/-0.5 W/kg. These findings suggest that ELBW, associated with a complicated perinatal course, is likely to result in a delayed motor ability in such children, due to deficiencies in neuromuscular control. Verf.-Referat