Early fine motor and adaptive development in high-risk appropriate for gestational age preterm and healthy term children.

The development of fine motor and adaptive skills during the first 2 years of life is reported in 97 high-risk preterm children and 94 healthy term children. Most stages of fine motor and adaptive development were found to occur at slightly later ages among preterm children. Neurological development was significantly correlated with fine motor and adaptive development in preterm children only. No significant influence of prenatal, perinatal and postnatal variables on fine motor and adaptive development was noted. No significant sex differences were observed in both the term and preterm group. The strongest predictors of later intellectual functioning were fine motor performance at 9 months and fine motor and adaptive skills at 18 to 24 months.