ABSTRACT
The IMP has been designed as an instrument to evaluate motor behaviour in infants and young children up to and including the age of walking independently for a couple of months. It is a reliable measurement with adequate validity. Moreover, it has a good responsiveness to change related to early intervention (Chapter 3). The IMP has two goals: (1) to monitor infant motor development or – phrased more specifically – to follow infant development in the IMP domains of variation, adaptability, symmetry, fluency, and performance and (2) to detect infants at high risk of developmental disorders. The IMP is especially useful in groups of at-risk infants, such as preterm infants or infants with complex congenital heart disease, not just because it facilitates the detection of infants at high risk of developmental disorders, but even more because it furnishes directions for early intervention.
In the following sections, we discuss the significance of low scores in the five IMP domains. Each section starts with the presentation of the IMP percentile values based on the Dutch norm reference group of 1,700 infants aged 2 to 18 months (see Chapter 3). The statistical background of the computation of the percentile curves is explained in Box 10.1. Next, the clinical application of the IMP is illustrated by a further discussion of the two clinical examples introduced in Chapter 1 (Box 10.2). Concluding remarks complete the chapter.
