Objective: Preterm infants are exposed to loud noises during their stay in the neonatal intensive care unit which can lead to physiologic and behavioral alterations and even hearing loss. The use of earmuffs can reduce sound level and these changes. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the earmuffs in preterm infants solely cared for in closed incubators.
Methods: A comparative prospective study comprising 20 clinically stable preterm infants weighing less than 1500 g cared in closed incubator was conducted. Preterm infants acted as their own controls whereby they were observed without earmuffs (Group 1) for 2 days and with earmuffs (Group 2) on consecutive 2 days. The preterm infants' physiologic responses and Anderson Behavioral State Scoring System (ABSS) scores were assessed over 30s every 2h for 8h during daytime for 4 days.
Results: Out of 20 preterm infants, 6 were male and 14 female with a mean birth weight of 1220 ± 209 g, gestational age of 29.9 ± 2.1 weeks. The total number of measurements was 320. The mean ABSS scores of Group 1 and 2 were 3.07±1.1 and 1.34 ± 0.3, respectively. Statistically significant difference was noted between the means of ABSS scores (p<0.001). Preterm infants with earmuffs (87.5%) were more frequently observed in a quiet sleep state of ABSS compared with those without earmuffs (29.4%).
Conclusions: Noise level reduction was associated with significant improvement in behavioral states of ABSS. We suggest that noise reduction in preterm infants with earmuffs is helpful by improving sleep efficiency and increasing time of quiet sleep.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijporl.2012.07.001 | DOI Listing |
JAMA
January 2025
Department of Health Sciences, Faculty of Science, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
Importance: Metformin and glyburide monotherapy are used as alternatives to insulin in managing gestational diabetes. Whether a sequential strategy of these oral agents results in noninferior perinatal outcomes compared with insulin alone is unknown.
Objective: To test whether a treatment strategy of oral glucose-lowering agents is noninferior to insulin for prevention of large-for-gestational-age infants.
JAMA Netw Open
January 2025
Population Policy and Practice, Great Ormond Street UCL Institute of Child Health, London, United Kingdom.
Importance: Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) has proven to be a challenging and enduring complication of prematurity. However, its association with neurodevelopment across the spectrum of IVH severity, independent of prematurity, and in the context of contemporary care remains uncertain.
Objective: To evaluate national trends in IVH diagnosis and the association with survival and neurodevelopmental outcomes at 2 years of age.
JAMA Pediatr
January 2025
Department of Pediatrics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.
Importance: Preterm infants are recommended to receive most vaccinations at the same postnatal age as term infants. Studies have inconsistently observed an increased risk for postvaccination apnea in preterm infants.
Objective: To compare the proportions of hospitalized preterm infants with apnea and other adverse events in the 48 hours after 2-month vaccinations vs after no vaccinations.
Unlabelled: Hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus (hs-PDA) in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants continues to be an issue of research regarding the timing of treatment and which would be the most appropriate drug.
Objective: To assess the outcome of prolonged treatment with paracetamol in the closure of hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus in preterm newborns.
Patients And Method: Retrospective study in VLBW infants with echocardiographic and clinical diagnosis of hs-PDA who received treatment with intravenous paracetamol at 15 mg/kg every 6 hours for 6 days.
Andes Pediatr
October 2024
Instituto de Enfermería, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Austral de Chile, Valdivia, Chile.
Unlabelled: There is evidence of the benefits that breastfeeding (BF) provides to full-term and premature newborns who are hospitalized. In the latter, maintaining BF during and after hospitalization is difficult.
Objective: To determine the factors associated with BF cessation in preterm infants one month after discharge from a neonatology unit.
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