Long-Term Effects of Kangaroo Mother Care on Neuromotor Development in Adults Born Preterm: A Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Study.

In 30 seconds

This cohort analysis followed 214 young adults born weighing ≤ 1800 g who had originally participated in a randomized trial of Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) versus conventional neonatal care. Investigators assessed corticospinal excitability and interhemispheric communication using transcranial magnetic stimulation, and fine motor performance with the Nine Hole Peg Test. Regardless of neonatal care group, participants had slower peg-test performance and reduced grip strength compared with normative values; TMS measures did not differ significantly between groups. In adjusted analysis, KMC was associated with 78% effectiveness (95% CI: 4%-95%) in preventing altered transcallosal conduction time.

Key findings

• Participants born weighing ≤ 1800 g had longer Nine Hole Peg Test completion times and reduced grip strength compared with normative values.
• No significant differences in transcranial magnetic stimulation measures were found between the KMC and conventional-care groups.
• KMC was associated with 78% effectiveness (95% CI: 4%-95%) in preventing altered transcallosal conduction time in multivariate logistic regression.

Why it matters

The findings suggest that motor differences associated with very low birth weight may remain evident in adulthood, while early KMC could be linked to a specific aspect of interhemispheric motor connectivity. This adds long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes to the assessment of neonatal care, although the overall TMS comparisons did not show significant group differences.

What to keep in mind

The adult assessment was a cohort analysis of participants from an earlier randomized trial; the reported KMC association comes from multivariate regression, and no significant between-group differences were found in TMS measures overall.