Interobserver agreement in the assessment of Prechtl’s general movements in newborns. Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell, Uruguay. 2024.
Abstract
General movements are spontaneous movements that involve the whole body in a variable sequence of movements of the upper limbs, lower limbs, neck and trunk. They are characterized by their complexity, variability, and fluidity. These characteristics determine the quality of these movements and are a reflection of the integrity of the central nervous system. There are several ways of evaluating general movements, one of the most recognized being the one developed by
Prechtl. This method has proven to be effective in predicting and diagnosing cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders early.
An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted with the aim of assessing inter-observer agreement in the General Movement Optimality Score-Revised score in newborns. Thirty newborns from the Centro Hospitalario Pereira Rossell were selected and evaluated by different observers with training in general movements. To evaluate inter-observer agreement, Fleiss’s Kappa, Cohen’s Kappa, Intraclass Correlation Coefficient and Krippendorff’s Alpha were used, as appropriate. In the variable video evaluation, a 𝜿 value of 0.334 (95% CI 0.267 - 0.402) was obtained. In the total score variable, the ICC was 0.43 (95% CI 0.21 - 0.74), while in the variable classification of movements the kappa was 0.242 (95% CI 0.124 - 0.359). The physiotherapists achieved significantly higher concordances in all the variables analyzed. From this study it can be concluded that the level of general agreement was regular.
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