Longitudinal caregiver-reported motor development in infants born at term and preterm.

The motor scores came from caregiver report, not direct examination, and the authors say further validation against direct assessment and predictive outcomes is needed. Caregiver answers may be influenced by how they understand questions, their background, their perceptions of development, and a wish to report typical milestones. Participants had to speak English and use a smartphone, tablet, or computer, and 98% of caregivers were biological mothers, so the findings may not apply to other caregiver groups or settings. Attrition was 8.58%, and 81.0% completed all time points, so some infants were missing later assessments. The analysis compared groups at separate time points; the authors note that true longitudinal trajectories still need further work. The study did not test an intervention, so it cannot show that any treatment improves motor development.

Do not conclude that infants born preterm have better motor development. They scored higher at the newborn assessment, but lower at 6, 9, and 12 months, and the scores came from caregiver report.