Physiotherapy in Neurological conditions: AB No: 110: Determinants of Motor Development in Infants: A Cross Sectional Study

Purpose: To identify the determinants of motor development in South Indian infants. Relevance: An estimated 63.4 million Indian children under 5 years are at risk of poor development. Early childhood development is fundamentally important phase and is influenced by the stimulus and nurturing. Environment influences, particularly the home environment is considered as the critical factors for optimal growth and development. Participants: Apparently healthy infants between 1 and 11 months residing in Belagavi city. Method: 164 infants were recruited with probability proportional to population size sampling method, as part of larger sample size of 1170. Information on child and family characteristics, home environment and play materials were recorded using a structured questionnaire. Analysis: In a manual stepwise forward procedure, association between each independent variable and outcomes was assessed in unadjusted models. Variables, significant at P < 0.05 were kept in multiple models while non-significant variables were re-introduced one at a time into the multiple models. Result: Gestational age was positively associated, while duration of breast feeding, hospitalization and present weight (-1.17, p= 0.03) had negative association with the fine and total motor quotient respectively. Father’s education (0.0352 coefficient), occupation and income had significant positive effect on total and fine motor quotients respectively. Outside space to play had positive association with fine motor quotient (2.28, p= 0.0154). Conclusion: The research was able to highlight the impact of home environment and early exposure to the play materials on the motor development of infants. Implication: The study findings have significant implications for early identification of multidirectional factors influencing the infant development and propose to implement effective and impact full early childhood intervention in India that would complement existing services and will improve developmental outcomes of Infants.