Infant Neurological International Battery (INFANIB)

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Objective

Infant Neurological International battery ( INFANIB) is the developmental screening tool used for the assessment of neuromotor development in infants aged 0-18 months.It was established by Ellison et al. in 1985. The original INFANIB was a 20-item battery with five factors; Spasticity, Vestibular Function, Head and Trunk, French Angles and Legs. Many of the test items on the INFANIB were derived from other neuromotor test including the Milani-Comparetti and Gidoni scale.It consist of assessment of posture, extremity and axial tone, primitive reflexes, and postural reaction. It is the simple, time saving and easy to learn.

It is used to distinguish infants with normal neuromotor function from those with the abnormal findings and to predict need for follow up treatment and further helps in

1. As first year of infant's life is critical period for brain development due to brain plasticity thus helps in early identification and intervention of neuromotor abnormalities.
2. Normal INFANIB can be used as to reassure parents of risk infants.
3. It can be used to compare the neuromotor assessment of infant both in infants (example: birth) and later variables ( cerebral palsy, cognitive function, school performances)

Intended Population

It is used to evaluate neonates and infants aged 1-18 months who are high risk infants with premature deliveries, low birth weight, intrauterine growth retardation, birth asphysia, intraventricular hemorrhage, respiratory distress, congenital heart diseases and slow development.

Method of Use

It is a observational scale to assess all neuromotor status done by medical professionals.

It doesnot require any special training to administer.

Equipment required: Pen, Scoring Sheet, Goniometer.

Before assessing the infant, it is very essential to calculate corrected gestational age whether the infant is preterm or post-term and tally the corrected age with start score while scoring each items.

The score of each item is mentioned in the score sheet itself based upon age and calculating total score will determine the neuromotor state of infants.

Here is the scoring sheet for INFANIB.[1]

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`div class="test-right"``Taylor Albert. INFANIB. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB5CRV7SS-Q [last assessed 17/2/2019]`ref``/div``/div` `div class="col-md-6"`

`div class="test-right"``Taylor Albert. INFANIB- Part 2. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDmn3DKWQxA [last assessed 17/2/2019]`ref``/div``/div`

Psychometric Properties

Several studies had been done in several countries for the cross-cultural translation and identification of psychometric properties of INFANIB.

The study done in Iran by Soleimani and Dadkhah shows its sensitivity was 90%, specificity 83%, positive predictive value (PPV) 79% and negative predictive value (NPV) 93% with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of 0.90. Thus proposed INFANIB as a appropriate and reliable measurement for gross motor developmental delay.

Where as the other study done in China shown the interclass correlation coefficient and intraclass correlation coefficient values for the INFANIB at 3, 7 and 10 months were >0.8, indicating excellent reliability with regard to inter- and intraobserver differences. The specificity, sensitivity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were high for both high-risk premature infants and full-term infants at the age of 10 months. For premature infants at the age of 7 months or below, INFANIB had low validity for detecting abnormalities.