[Early screening of cerebral palsy during infancy using 'Infant Motor Malfunction Profile' in the communities of two cities].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the prospective validity and predictive value of cerebral palsy during infancy, using 'Infant Motor Malfunction Profile'.

METHODS: Items of motor milestone in the profile was used as the first step to screen cerebral palsy on 8137 infants who were screened at 3, 6, 9, 12 months of age. The positive cases who had one of 7 developmental abnormal motor milestone items were examined using the items of primitive reflexes or postural reaction as the secondary step of cerebral palsy screening. The cases who had at least one abnormal item of primitive reflex or postural reaction received neurological examination by doctors to diagnose cerebral palsy.

RESULTS: According to our data, sensitivity, specificity, positive prospective value, positive and negative likelihood ratio of the profile in screening cerebral during infancy were 94.1%, 99.8%, 48.5%, 449.6 and 0.06, respectively.

CONCLUSION: The profile seemed to be an acceptable instrument for early identification of cerebral palsy.