Abstract Aim To determine whether motor skills in children and adults born preterm (< 37 weeks’ gestation) without cerebral palsy (CP) are associated with outcomes of activities and participation within the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF). Method A systematic search for original articles with full text available was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, and Web of Science. We included observational studies of children and adults born preterm without CP reporting associations between motor skills and outcomes within the Activities and Participation component of the ICF. We excluded randomized controlled trials. Screening, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed by two independent researchers. Results Thirty‐six original articles, published from 1988 to 2025, examined 56 associations between motor skills and outcomes of activities and participation. Most associations were reported with Chapter 1 ‘Learning and applying knowledge’ and Chapter 2 ‘General tasks and demands’. Among the reported findings, 28 (50%) were positive, 10 (18%) were inconsistent, and 18 (32%) indicated no association. Interpretation This review of the available research shows that motor skills are associated with outcomes of activities and participation in children and adults without CP born preterm. Awareness of these associations could guide assessments and interventions.
Evensen et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: