Motor performance and cognitive correlates in children cooled for neonatal encephalopathy without cerebral palsy at school age.

Aim: To investigate whether motor performance in school‐age children without cerebral palsy, cooled for neonatal encephalopathy, is associated with perinatal factors and 18‐month developmental scores and to explore relationships between school‐age motor and cognitive performance.Methods: Motor and cognitive performance was assessed in 29 previously cooled children at 6‐8 years using the Movement Assessment Battery for Children‐2 (MABC‐2) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC‐IV). Associations between MABC‐2 scores less than/equal (<)15th centile and perinatal factors, social/family background, 18‐month Bayley‐III scores and WISC‐IV scores were explored.Results: Eleven/29(38%) children had MABC‐2 scores <15th centile including 7(24%) <5th centile. No significant perinatal or socio‐economic risk factors were identified. Motor scores <85 at 18 months failed to identify children with MABC‐2 scores <15th centile. MABC‐2 scores <15th centile were associated with lower Full Scale IQ (p=0.045), Working Memory (p=0.03) and Perceptual Reasoning (p=0.005) scores at 6‐8 years and receiving greater support in school (p=0.01).Conclusion: A third of cooled children without cerebral palsy had MABC‐2 scores indicating motor impairment at school‐age that was not identified at 18 months by Bayley‐III. Most children with low MABC scores needed support at school. Sub‐optimal MABC‐2 scores indicate need for detailed school‐age cognitive evaluation.