Neurological examination of healthy term infants at ages 6 and 10 weeks in Tshwane District.
Marna Nel, Ute Feucht, Helen Mulol and 1 others
PMID 39229291WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy infants in South Africa showed rapid neurological maturation between 6 and 10 weeks, including better head control and visual tracking.
Most scored within normal ranges on the Hammersmith exam, providing local benchmark data to help identify early developmental risks.
Key findings
01Neurological development accelerated significantly between 6 and 10 weeks, with improvements in posture, head control, and visual behavior.
02The majority of infants achieved optimal scores on the total neurological examination at both time points, establishing a baseline for healthy development in this population.
03Specific primitive reflexes and tone patterns changed predictably, such as diminished flexor tone and increased anti-gravity control, which can help clinicians distinguish normal from abnormal progression.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only 35 infants, which is a small sample size for establishing normative data. The sample had a high rate of Caesarean sections (60%), which is much higher than the local hospital average (39.1%) and district average (29.1%), potentially skewing the population. All assessments were performed by a single examiner, so inter-rater reliability for this specific application was not tested. The study did not include baseline neurological scores from the first 48 hours of life, so early risk factors might have been missed.
Declared interests
The research received no specific grant. The parent study was funded by the South African Medical Research Council.
The easy way to misread this
Do not use these scores as a diagnostic cutoff for pathology in other populations. The sample size was small and had an unusually high rate of Caesarean births, so these norms may not apply to all infants in South Africa or elsewhere.