152 - Improved Confidence, Competence, Knowledge in Child-Focused Physicians after Participation in Infant Motor Development Course

Poster Number: 152
Publication Number: 152.218

Nina L. Alfieri, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Oak Park, IL, United States; Emily R. Golbeck, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Anne Bendelow, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Thomas Babu, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States; Michael Rubyan, University of Michigan School of Public Health, West Bloomfield, MI, United States; Sarah Babula, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, chicago, IL, United States; Matthew M. Davis, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States

Background: Atypical motor development may manifest as early as the first 6 months of life. Early referral to therapeutic services can improve long-term outcomes by leveraging neuroplasticity during infancy. However, pediatric training programs and continued medical education initiatives infrequently focus on motor development during infancy. 

Objective: To measure clinicians’ confidence and competence in screening and identifying atypical motor development in infants 0-6 months old, before and after completing a novel online curriculum.

Design/Methods: A multidisciplinary team including experts in pediatric primary care, neuromuscular medicine, early intervention, physical therapy and medical education collaborated to develop an online curriculum with evidence-based guidance, expert interviews, real-life footage and a novel four-position exam sequence for screening and identifying atypical motor patterns during well child visits ≤6 months. Practicing pediatricians and trainees completed a knowledge self-assessment, comprised of 11 questions about risk factors, red flags and developmental milestones before and after participating in the course. Paired t-tests were used to compare pre- versus post-course scores.

Results: Overall, 28 practicing primary care pediatricians and 23 trainees completed the pre- and post-intervention self-assessments. Both groups demonstrated increases in their mean proportion of correct answers to knowledge questions, rising from 46% to 65% and 31% to 52% respectively (Table 1). Twelve percent of practicing physicians and 72% of pediatric trainees reported receiving none or a little training in assessing motor development for 2-month-old infants prior to taking the course. Following course completion, confidence (extremely or very confident) in recognizing atypical motor development in 2-month-old infants increased from 48% to 92% for practicing physicians and from 17% to 56% for trainees. We observed shifts toward greater confidence across practicing physicians and pediatric trainees for all infant ages included in the training following completion of the course (Figure 1). Conclusion(s): This novel online course regarding assessment of atypical motor development in infants increased the objective knowledge and competence and subjective confidence of practicing and training clinicians. This easily scalable online course can be offered more broadly to clinicians who can intervene to address atypical motor development early in infancy. Changes in physicians’ diagnoses and referral patterns should be examined to examine long-term outcomes that may result from participation in this course.
Table 1. Characteristics of Practicing Physician and Pediatric Trainee Participants
Figure 1. Confidence in Recognizing Atypical Motor Development Before and After Course Participation