Evaluation of a "tummy time" intervention to improve motor skills in infants after cardiac surgery.

BACKGROUND Infants who require open heart surgery are at increased risk for developmental delays including gross motor impairments which may have implications for later adaptive skills and cognitive performance. We sought to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of a tummy time intervention to improve motor skill development in infants after cardiac surgery. METHODS Infants 15 minutes of tummy time daily had a significantly greater improvement in motor scores than infants with <15 minutes of tummy time daily (p = 0.01). CONCLUSION In infants following cardiac surgery, <15 minutes of tummy time daily is associated with increased motor skill impairment. Further research is needed to elucidate the best strategies to optimise parental compliance with tummy time recommendations.