The Relationship Between Motor Delays and Language Development in Very Low Birthweight Premature Children at 18 Months Corrected Age.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine if there is a specific association between motor delays and receptive and expressive language function, respectively, in prematurely born children.

Method: Retrospective data review: 126 premature children ≤ 1,250-g birthweight from English-speaking families were evaluated on motor development (normal, mild delay, and moderate-severe delay) and the cognitive and language scales of the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-Third Edition (Bayley, 2006) at 18 months corrected age. Cognitive scores were categorized as normal, suspect, and abnormal. Gender, demographic, and perinatal variables were recorded and analyzed with respect to motor category.

Results: Lower birthweight, chronic need for oxygen, severe intraventricular hemorrhage, and intestinal infection/inflammation were related to poorer motor development. On receptive language, the normal motor group attained significantly higher scores than the moderate-severe motor group but did not differ significantly from the mild delay motor group. On expressive language, the normal motor group had significantly higher scores than both the mild and moderate-severe groups. Girls performed better than boys on receptive and expressive language, but there was no significant interaction between gender and motor category on any of the Bayley scores. Cognitive, but not motor, category significantly contributed to variance of receptive language scores; cognitive and motor category each independently contributed to the variance in expressive language.

Conclusion: Findings suggest that motor control areas of the brain may be implicated in expressive language development of premature children. Further research is needed to determine the underlying factors for the association between motor and expressive language function.