Psychomotor retardation

Delayed psychomotor development is a delay in the development of motor and intellectual functions, which we can talk about when a child does not achieve "developmental milestones", that is, the most important developmental skills, in a timely manner. These should be developed at a certain stage of life and are always referred to the child's age and, in the case of premature babies, to the corrected age (in the case of children born before 37 weeks of gestation, the corrected age takes into account the time the child should have spent in the womb until birth. For example, if a child was born 2 months early, at 4 months his adjusted age would be 2 months). "Milestones" include lifting the head and chest independently at around 3.-4 months, crawling at around 8-9 months or walking at around 12-18 months. In order to reach a higher stage of development, the presence and consolidation of a lower stage is essential.

The term "psychomotor disorders" refers to the first 2-3 years of life. Psychomotor retardation can occur at any time and involve one or more spheres of development (e.g., motor, social, emotional) or all spheres, known as global psychomotor retardation in a child. The latter and the associated intellectual disability together occur in about 3% of children up to age 5.

The delay in psychomotor development is due to causes such as:

1. environmental factors, such as neglect in the care and/or upbringing of the child,
2. Parental overprotectiveness,
3. Hypoxia occurring during childbirth,
4. diseases or defects of the nervous system,
5. metabolic disorders,
6. maternal diseases during pregnancy (e.g., rubella, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus),
7. diseases of the child occurring in early childhood (such as increased jaundice, meningitis, epilepsy).

Symptoms of psychomotor retardation include:

1. A delay in overall motor development,
2. manual dexterity disorder,
3. Impaired recognition and differentiation of visual stimuli,
4. speech disorder.

Delayed psychomotor development - treatment and physiotherapy

To enable the child to achieve the developmental norm and age-appropriate skills, intensive therapy should be undertaken as early as possible. In any case of psychomotor delay, it is necessary to treat symptomatically or causally, if possible. The best chance of identifying the cause and treating the delay is through the cooperation of a team of specialists: pediatrician, neurologist, orthopedist, psychologist, clinical geneticist, neuroradiologist, metabolic disease specialist and physiotherapist.

What is the diagnosis and treatment for delayed psychomotor development? A medical history is taken, the course of the pregnancy and the perinatal period is analyzed, the previous development is assessed (the Denver scale or the Brunet-Lézine scale are most often used) and the results of basic examinations, and a pediatric and neurological examination is performed. The doctor also assesses how much is psychomotor retardation and how much is mental retardation. Further, children are referred for physiotherapy to improve cognitive development in infancy and preschool, and parents are given nursing instruction. At the Paley European Institute, we have the best pediatric orthopedic specialists and physiotherapists to ensure that children with psychomotor retardation can access state-of-the-art treatment and rehabilitation.