Ground-breaking WA-led study, Early Moves has hit a major milestone, with 3,000 participants successfully recruited over a four-year period.
Early Moves, a collaboration with Telethon Kids Institute’s The ORIGINS Project, has the potential to change the landscape of early diagnosis for Australian families. This means that children with cognitive delays such as Global Developmental Delay or Autism Spectrum Disorder will be able to connect with care providers for ongoing support earlier.
Early Moves is led by Professor Jane Valentine, Co-Head, Kids Rehab Research WA at Perth Children’s Hospital and Professor Catherine Elliott of Curtin’s School of Allied Health and Director of Research at Telethon Kids Institute (TKI).
The project is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council, Curtin University, Perth Children’s Hospital Foundation (PCHF) with support from Principal Partner Mineral Resources (MinRes) via Channel 7 Telethon Trust, West Australian Child Research Fund, and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.
“We know that the first 1,000 days of life is a critical time of neuroplasticity in a baby's brain. Identifying delays at this early stage allows the opportunity for intervention at a time when a baby is most able to benefit,” Professor Catherine Elliott said.
Recruitment has now closed at two study sites, Joondalup Health Campus through TKI’s the ORIGINS Project and St John of God Midland Public and Private Hospital.
“We are so pleased to have been able to achieve this milestone and offer this opportunity to West Australian families. We now have a rich data set from which to answer this very important research question, relating to early identification of cognitive development,” said Professor Jane Valentine.
Participants receive assessments at two points in time during the project. Using a secure smart phone app to film their baby’s early movements during the first 14 weeks of life, parents send videos directly to specialist clinicians for review, conducting formal assessments of their baby’s’ movements to identify movement abnormalities.
Additionally, all participants receive an early screening for risk of cerebral palsy during the first phase of the study.
At age two, participants then receive a developmental assessment to look at children’s cognitive, language and motor development.
The Early Moves research study will continue until November 2025, when the last group of babies turn two.
Plans are underway to extend the study to follow the cohort as they commence their schooling journey, to better explore the long-term relationship between babies' early movements and cognitive development in later childhood.
Further information about Early Moves can be found here
First published Wednesday 13 March 2024.