Approximate entropy used to assess sitting postural sway of infants with developmental delay

Infant sitting postural sway provides a window into motor development at an early age. The approximate entropy, a measure of randomness, in the postural sway was used to assess developmental delay, as occurs in cerebral palsy. Parameters used for the calculation of approximate entropy were investigated, and approximate entropy of postural sway in early sitting was found to be lower for infants with developmental delay in the anterior-posterior axis, but not in the medial-lateral axis. Spectral analysis showed higher frequency features in the postural sway of early sitting of infants with typical development, suggesting a faster control mechanism is active in infants with typical development as compared to infants with delayed development, perhaps activated by near-fall events. (C) 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.