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Aim  Children born very preterm are at risk for impaired motor performance ranging from cerebral palsy (CP) to milder abnormalities, such as developmental coordination disorder. White matter abnormalities (WMA) at term have been associated with CP in very preterm children; however, little is known about the impact of WMA on the range of motor impairments. The aim of this study was to assess whether WMA were predictive of all levels of motor impairments in very preterm children.

Method  Two hundred and twenty‐seven very preterm infants (<30wks gestational age or birthweight <1250g) had brain magnetic resonance imaging at term‐equivalent age to assess for WMA, which were categorized as nil, mild, or moderate to severe. At 5 years of age children were classified as having a moderate to severe motor impairment if they were below the 5th centile or mild to severe motor impairment if their score …