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  • The Baby Moves prospective cohort study protocol: using a smartphone application with the General Movements Assessment to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 2 years for extremely preterm or extremely low birthweight infants

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Paediatrics
Protocol
The Baby Moves prospective cohort study protocol: using a smartphone application with the General Movements Assessment to predict neurodevelopmental outcomes at age 2 years for extremely preterm or extremely low birthweight infants
  1. AJ Spittle1,2,3,
  2. J Olsen2,3,
  3. A Kwong1,2,3,
  4. LW Doyle2,3,4,
  5. PB Marschik5,6,
  6. C Einspieler5,
  7. JLY Cheong2,3,4
  1. 1Department of Physiotherapy, School of Health Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  2. 2Victorian Infant Brain Studies, Clinical Sciences, Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  3. 3Newborn Research, The Royal Women's Hospital, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  4. 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Health Science, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
  5. 5Research Unit iDN—interdisciplinary Developmental Neuroscience, Institute of Physiology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Steiermark, Austria
  6. 6Department of Women's & Children's Health, Center of Neurodevelopmental Disorders (KIND), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
  1. Correspondence to Dr AJ Spittle; alicia.spittle{at}mcri.edu.au

Abstract

Introduction Infants born extremely preterm (EP; <28 weeks' gestation) and/or with extremely low birth weight (ELBW; <1000 g birth weight) are at increased risk for adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. However, it is challenging to predict those EP/ELBW infants destined to have long-term neurodevelopmental impairments in order to target early intervention to those in most need. The General Movements Assessment (GMA) in early infancy has high predictive validity for neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm infants. However, access to a GMA may be limited by geographical constraints and a lack of GMA-trained health professionals. Baby Moves is a smartphone application (app) developed for caregivers to video and upload their infant's general movements to be scored remotely by a certified GMA assessor. The aim of this study is to determine the predictive ability of using the GMA via the Baby Moves app for neurodevelopmental impairment in infants born EP/ELBW.

Methods and analysis This prospective cohort study will recruit infants born EP/ELBW across the state of Victoria, Australia in 2016 and 2017. A control group of normal birth weight (>2500 g birth weight), term-born (≥37 weeks' gestation) infants will also be recruited as a local reference group. Parents will video their infant's general movements at two time points between 3 and 4 months' corrected age using the Baby Moves app. Videos will be scored by certified GMA assessors and classified as normal or abnormal. Parental satisfaction using the Baby Moves app will be assessed via survey. Neurodevelopmental outcome at 2 years' corrected age includes developmental delay according to the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III and cerebral palsy diagnosis.

Ethics and dissemination This study was approved by the Human Research and Ethics Committees at the Royal Children's Hospital, The Royal Women's Hospital, Monash Health and Mercy Health in Melbourne, Australia. Study findings will be disseminated via peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations.

  • extremely preterm
  • extremely low birth weight
  • General Movements Assessments
  • Cerebral Palsy
  • Smart Phone Application

This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2016-013446

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    Footnotes

    • Twitter Follow Alicia Spittle at @aliciaspittle

    • Contributors AJS, JLYC, JO and LWD were involved in the conception of the smartphone application. All authors were involved in the design of the study and contributed to drafting and revising the manuscript.

    • Funding This study was funded by grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council (Centre for Research Excellence in Newborn Medicine 1060733; Career Development Fellowship 110871 for AJS; Early Career Fellowship 1053787 for JLYC); the Cerebral Palsy Alliance Research Foundation (Project Grant), Murdoch Childrens Research Institute and the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Programme.

    • Competing interests AJS and CE are members of the General Movements Trust, a not-for-profit organisation involved in the training of the General Movements Assessment.

    • Patient consent Obtained.

    • Ethics approval Human Research and Ethics Committees at the Royal Children's Hospital, The Royal Women's Hospital, Monash Health and Mercy Health in Melbourne, Australia.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.