Early Physiotherapy Interventions for Improving Motor Outcomes in Infants at Risk: A Systematic Review
| Author | Deniz Çakır | en |
| Author | Fuat Sonmez | en |
| Author | Emre Demir | en |
| Author | Nilay Comuk Balci | en |
| Author | Seda Nur Kemer | en |
| Author | İlknur Ezgi Dogan | en |
| Orcid | Deniz Çakır [0000-0002-0626-7465] | en |
| Orcid | Fuat Sonmez [0000-0002-2257-2873] | en |
| Orcid | Emre Demir [0009-0004-5153-9628] | en |
| Orcid | Nilay Comuk Balci [0000-0002-3617-6345] | en |
| Orcid | Seda Nur Kemer [0000-0002-0623-302X] | en |
| Orcid | İlknur Ezgi Dogan [0000-0002-4720-9691] | en |
| Issued Date | 2026-06-30 | en |
| Abstract | Context: Early intervention is widely recommended for infants at risk of developmental disorders, particularly those born preterm or affected by neonatal encephalopathy. Although previous studies have generally reported positive effects, intervention programs vary substantially in theoretical basis, content, and delivery. This review synthesized evidence on the effects of motor interventions for at-risk infants from birth to 24 months of age. Evidence Acquisition: PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, the Cochrane Library (CENTRAL), CINAHL, Wiley Online Library, Web of Science, PEDro, and Scopus were searched for relevant publications. Studies were eligible if they included at-risk infants aged up to 24 months who received early motor interventions delivered by physiotherapists. Results: After eligibility assessment, 9 studies of moderate-to-high methodological quality were retained for in-depth evaluation. In all 9 studies, at-risk infants received rehabilitation delivered by physiotherapists or ergotherapists. Seven studies used a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) design, 1 used a three-arm RCT design, and 1 was a feasibility pilot RCT. Interventions limited to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) settings were excluded according to the predefined exclusion criteria. The total intervention duration, session frequency, and session duration varied across studies. Total intervention durations ranged from 2 to 12 weeks, and session durations ranged from 4 to 60 minutes. | en |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.5812/ijpediatr-169966 | en |
| URI | https://brieflands.com/journals/ijp/articles/169966 | en |
| Keyword | Motor Outcomes | en |
| Keyword | Early Physiotherapy Interventions | en |
| Keyword | At-risk Infants | en |
| Publisher | Brieflands | en |
| Title | Early Physiotherapy Interventions for Improving Motor Outcomes in Infants at Risk: A Systematic Review | en |
| Type | Systematic Review | en |
Files
Original bundle
1 - 1 of 1
Loading...
- Name:
- ijp-36-3-169966-publish-pdf.pdf
- Size:
- 791.45 KB
- Format:
- Adobe Portable Document Format
- Description:
- Article/s PDF