Background: Preterm infants are more likely to suffer from cerebral palsy than term infants. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of early physiotherapy on the incidence of cerebral palsy in premature infants.

Methods: A total of 2684 infants born at less than 37-week gestation, excluding those with congenital deformity and hereditary metabolic diseases, and treated at 29 collaborative units in China from March 2001 to December 2004 were included in this study. The premature infants were classified into 2 groups: intervention group (1390 infants) whose family members actively participated in the early intervention after the initiation of this investigation; routine group (1294 infants) including the premature infants born within 1 year before this investigation, and the premature infants born after the investigation and who did not receive early intervention because of lack of support from family members. The infants of the intervention group received massage, exercise and motor training on the basis of early education at home after discharge from hospitals. All infants with abnormal motor manifestations were given appropriate rehabilitation training. The infants in the routine care group received only conventional baby care.

Results: In the 2 groups, no significant differences were found in complications of pregnant mothers, average gestational age and birth weight, proportion of small for gestational age (SGA) and appropriate gestational age (AGA), proportion of single and multiple births, fetal stress, postnatal asphyxia, Apgar Score, incidence of neonatal hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) and intracranial hemorrhage (P>0.05). The findings indicate that the two groups were comparable. At 1 year of age, cerebral palsy occurred in 13 (9.4‰) of the intervention group vs 46 (35.5‰) of the routine care group (P<0.001).

Conclusions: The instructions for the parents to carry out physical intervention for their premature infants can reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy.