Table 2.
Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Network Neurobehavioral Scale: Definition and Interpretations of Summary Scores (Adopted from Lester et. al. in Appendix 2 PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 3 March 2004)
| Summary Item | Expected Response | Normative Score |
|---|---|---|
| Habituation | Response decrement to repeated auditory and visual stimuli; mean of items (3 items; range: 1–9) | High range |
| Attention | Response to animate and inanimate auditory and visual stimuli; mean of items (7 items; range: 1–9) | High range |
| Handling | Handling Handling strategies used during orientation to maintain alert state; mean number of strategies used (8 items, range 0–1) | 1 |
| Quality of movement | Quality of movement Measure of motor control including smoothness, maturity, lack of startles and tremors; mean of items recoded for good motor control (6 items; range: 1–9) | Middle range |
| Regulation | Capacity to organize motor activity, physiology, and state during the examination and to respond to cuddling, consoling, and negative stimuli; mean of items recoded for good regulation (15 items; range: 1–9) | Middle range |
| Nonoptimal reflexes | Any nonoptimal response to reflex elicitation; sum of items recoded for nonoptimal reflexes (15 items; range: 0–15) | Hign range |
| Asymmetric reflexes | Any asymmetric response to reflex elicitation; sum of items recoded for asymmetric responses (16 items; range: 0–16) | <16 |
| Stress/abstinence | Amount of stress and abstinence signs observed during examination; mean number of observed stress signs (50 items; range: 0–1) | Low range |
| Arousal | Level of arousal including state and motor activity during the examination; mean of items recoded for high arousal (7 items; range: 1–9) | Middle range |
| Hypertonicity | Hypertonic response in arms, legs, or trunk or in general tone; sum of items recoded for hypertonic indicators (10 items; range: 0–10) | 0 |
| Hypotonicity | Hypotonic response in arms, legs, or trunk or in general tone; sum of items recoded for hypotonic indicators (10 items; range: 0–10) | 0 |
| Excitability | Measure of high levels of motor, state, and physiologic reactivity; sum of items recoded for excitable behavior (15 items; range: 0–15) | High range |
| Lethargy | Measure of low levels of motor, state, and physiologic reactivity; sum of items recoded for lethargic behavior (15 items; range: 0–15) | Low range |