Screening of white middle-class US infants with the Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the appropriateness of the Wolański Gross Motor Evaluation (WGME) to screen Triangle Area (North Carolina, US) infants for developmental delay. Eighty full-term, white infants were tested once each and five infants were followed longitudinally using the WGME. The results of the study revealed that the Triangle Area infants scored significantly higher than did the Polish infants with whom the study was normed at three and six months of age, but not at nine and twelve months of age. At three and twelve months scores differed between males and females, with females scoring higher than males. No significant differences according to gender occurred at six or nine months. Longitudinal subjects did not remain in any single channel of development on either the existing WGME grids or on grids fabricated from the cross-sectional data from this study. The WGME grids would not be appropriate for use with American infants as they now stand. Further research is needed to develop appropriate scoring methods, as well as provide validity and reliability information.