# Neurological examination of healthy term infants at ages 6 and 10 weeks in Tshwane District

## TL;DR

This study examines the neurological development of healthy infants at 6 and 10 weeks in South Africa, highlighting key developmental milestones.

## Contribution

The study provides normative neurodevelopmental data for infants at 6 and 10 weeks, filling a critical gap in early childhood development research.

## Key findings

- Neurodevelopmental advancements in posture, muscle tone, and visual behavior were observed between 6 and 10 weeks.
- Optimality scores of 29.5 at 6 weeks and 31.5 at 10 weeks were recorded in the majority of infants.
- The findings support the importance of early screening for developmental milestones.

## Abstract

Globally, there is a significant gap in detailed neurodevelopmental data for infants under 3 months, despite 6 weeks being identified a critical milestone for neuro-behavioural development. Normative values and optimal scores for healthy infants at 6 and 10 weeks postnatally are lacking in many settings. In South Africa, the statutory neurodevelopmental assessments at these ages exclude notable characteristics of central nervous system maturation and limit opportunities to collect data of early developmental progress.

Our study aimed to assess developmental characteristics of healthy term infants aged 6 and 10 weeks using the Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination (HNNE).

A prospective longitudinal study was performed on 35 healthy term-born infants from low-risk pregnancies at 6 and 10 weeks’ postnatal age in the Tshwane district. The statuses of infants’ neurodevelopment in six domains were recorded using the HNNE. Optimality scores were derived from the raw scores of 34 items, using the 10th and 5th percentiles as cut-off points.

Evidences of neurodevelopmental advancements, particularly in posture, muscle tone and visual behaviour between 6 and 10 weeks were illustrated, and total examination optimality scores of 29.5 in 91% and 31.5 in 94% of infants were recorded at 6 and 10 weeks, respectively.

This article provides data on the neurodevelopment characteristics of infants at and between 6- and 10-weeks post term ages.

The findings support the viewpoint to identify important milestone characteristics during early screening.