Update on Test of Infant Motor Performance
Cost: A few resources on thetimp.com:
- Reliability Assessment: $150.00
- TIMP forms (available in English, Portuguese, and French): $68.00
- Self-Instructional DVD: $85.00
- TIMP test manual: $38.00
Time requirements: 25-35 minutes for assessment
Summary of Article:
Dusing S, Murray T, Stern M. Parent preferences for motor development education in the neonatal intensive care unit. Pediatr Phys Ther;2008 Winter;20(4):363-8.
The purpose of this study was to determine the best way for physical therapists to provide education to parents with infants born preterm in order to improve motor development. This qualitative study used two different focus groups. One evaluated three different types of education and development of a parent education intervention. The second assessed how well the parent education intervention worked. The first focus group had 7 parents of infants born preterm and currently hospitalized in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). The second focus group had 4 parents of infants who were also born preterm and hospitalized in the NICU, but didn’t participate in the first focus group. The first type of education was a brochure about developmental milestones; the second was a 15-minute lecture through powerpoint presentation, and the third was a 15-minute video of an infant assessed through the Test of Infant Motor Performance. All types of education included open-ended questions. The parents then ranked the types of education they thought were most beneficial and preferable. The second focus group included a parent education intervention that consisted of a 12-minute video of the Test of Infant Motor Performance while the therapist described the assessment and told the parent to imagine this was their child. This focus group also received a brochure and took a post-intervention test about different strategies they learned. The parents then provided feedback and suggestions about the educational methods. The results are that 55% of the parents in the first focus group prefer the video of the infant motor assessment the most as an educational method. 22% of the parents preferred the combination of the video and the powerpoint for education and the brochure was the least preferred method. In the second focus group, all parents demonstrated improvements from the pre to post-intervention test. Limitations of this study include that the parents volunteered to participate, demographic information on the infants were not included to encourage participation, and the video was not of the participant’s infant. Strengths of the study included the use of clinically important information that is reproducible such as the use of an outcome measure as an educational intervention, and feedback and suggestions about what type of education is most beneficial. This study suggests that it is beneficial to provide parents of preterm infants with a combination of educational interventions to increase motor development at home after discharge from the NICU.
Reference:
Campbell S. Development of a functional movement scale for infants. Journal of Applied Measurement. 2002;3(2):190-204.
3 responses to “Update on Test of Infant Motor Performance”
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It’s an interesting idea to educate the parents about the test itself in order to help them understand a diagnosis!
Interesting that the brochure was the least desired form of information. Unfortunately, people are sometimes are given a diagnosis and a brochure to tell them about everything. This leads a lot of room for unanswered question that seemed to have been addressed better with the video and the power point presentations!
Wow, I think showing the parents a video of an actual TIMP assessment is great. Not only will they be able to understand the test but I feel like this will give them a general understanding of what to keep in eye on during the development of their own child.