Predictors and outcomes of the Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS) performance: a systematic review.

Unlabelled: The NOMAS is by far the most used tool to screen early oral-motor skills in newborns. Here we provide an updated review of scientific literature on the use of the Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS) to screen early oral-motor skills in newborns. An integrative review has been carried out consistent with PRISMA guidelines and standardized qualitative appraisal.

Do mothers sound good? A systematic review of the effects of maternal voice exposure on preterm infants' development.

Preterm infants are hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) and are precociously separated from their mothers. Although developmental care interventions are meant to facilitate mother-infant bonding, physical contact is not always possible. Maternal voice exposure has been proposed as a way to foster maternal closeness and support postnatal bonding.

Pain exposure associates with telomere length erosion in very preterm infants.

Very preterm (VPT) infants (gestational age < 32 weeks) require long-lasting hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), even in absence of severe morbidities. During NICU stay, life-saving interventions occur and include invasive and painful skin-breaking procedures (NICU-related stress), which constitute a major early adverse experience for VPT infants. Telomeres are repeat-sequence at the end of chromosomes, which shorten with age and are highly susceptible to life adversities: the exposure to early adverse experiences is associated with shorter telomere length (TL).

The Functional Evaluation of Eating Difficulties Scale: Study Protocol and Validation in Infants with Neurodevelopmental Impairments and Disabilities.

Introduction: A reliable and accurate evaluation of oral-motor skills in newborns at risk for swallowing and feeding disorders is key to set the goals of effective early interventions. Although many tools are available to assess oral-motor skills in newborns, limited evidence exists for what pertains their reliability and their effectivity in predicting short- and long-term developmental outcomes in at-risk infants. The aim of the present study is to develop and provide a preliminary validation of a new clinically grounded tool [i.

Maternal sociodemographic factors differentially affect the risk of behavioral problems in Brazilian and Italian preterm toddlers.

The main aim of the present study was to examine differences in behavioral problems in toddlers born very preterm in Brazil and Italy. The sample comprised 154 toddlers (18-24 months of age) born very preterm, including 76 toddlers from Brazil and 78 toddlers from Italy. The Child Behavior Checklist was used to assess behavioral problems.

Telomere Length in Preterm Infants: A Promising Biomarker of Early Adversity and Care in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit?

Preterm infants present an immature neurobehavioral profile at birth, even in absence of severe brain injuries and perinatal complications. As such, they require a long-lasting hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which is thought to grant at-risk newborns' survival, but still entails a number of physical, painful, and socio-emotional stressors. Hence, preterm birth and NICU stay represent an early adverse experience, which has been linked to detrimental consequences for neurological, neuro-endocrinal, behavioral, and socio-emotional development, as well as to disease later in life.

Study Protocol for the Preschooler Regulation of Emotional Stress (PRES) Procedure.

Emotional stress regulation (ESR) rapidly develops during the first months of age and includes different behavioral strategies which largely contribute to children's behavioral and emotional adjustment later in life. The assessment of ESR during the first years of life is critical to identify preschool children who are at developmental risk. Although ESR is generally included in larger temperament batteries [e.

Maternal Sensitivity Buffers the Association between SLC6A4 Methylation and Socio-Emotional Stress Response in 3-Month-Old Full Term, but not very Preterm Infants.

Background: Very preterm (VPT) infants are hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs) and are exposed to life-saving procedures eliciting pain-related stress. Recent research documented that pain-related stress might result in birth-to-discharge increased methylation of serotonin transporter gene () in VPT infants, leading to poorer stress regulation at 3 months of age in VPT infants compared to their full-term (FT) counterparts. Maternal sensitivity is thought to support infants' stress response, but its role in moderating the effects of altered methylation is unknown.

Fertilizing a Patient Engagement Ecosystem to Innovate Healthcare: .

Currently we observe a gap between theory and practices of patient engagement. If both scholars and health practitioners do agree on the urgency to realize patient engagement, no shared guidelines exist so far to orient clinical practice. Despite a supportive policy context, progress to achieve greater patient engagement is patchy and slow and often concentrated at the level of policy regulation without dialoguing with practitioners from the clinical field as well as patients and families.

The BDNF polymorphism and individual differences in temperament in 4-month-old infants: A pilot study.

Individual differences in infants' temperament are under genetic control. We investigated the association between brain-derived-neurotrophic-factor (BDNF) polymorphism and temperament in 63 full-term infants. Met-carriers (N=25) had lower Regulatory capacities compared to val-homozygotes (N=38).

An Educational Intervention to Train Professional Nurses in Promoting Patient Engagement: A Pilot Feasibility Study.

Growing evidence recognizes that patients who are motivated to take an active role in their care can experience a range of health benefits and reduced healthcare costs. Nurses play a critical role in the effort to make patients fully engaged in their disease management. Trainings devoted to increase nurses' skills and knowledge to assess and promote patient engagement are today a medical education priority.

SLC6A4 methylation as an epigenetic marker of life adversity exposures in humans: A systematic review of literature.

The application of epigenetics to the study of behavioral and socio-emotional development in humans has revealed that DNA methylation could be a potential marker of adversity exposure and long-lasting programming of health and disease. The serotonin transporter gene (SLC6A4) is a stress-related gene which has well-documented implications for behavioral and socio-emotional development and which has been shown to be susceptible to transcriptional regulation via epigenetic mechanisms. In the present paper, a systematic review of papers assessing the association among adversity exposures, SLC6A4 methylation and developmental outcomes is reported.

SLC6A4 promoter region methylation and socio-emotional stress response in very preterm and full-term infants.

Aim: The present study is part of a prospective micro-longitudinal research project and reports on the association between SLC6A4 methylation and socio-emotional stress response in very preterm (VPT) and full-term (FT) infants.

Materials & Methods: SLC6A4 methylation was assessed at birth and discharge in 32 VPT infants, and at birth in 27 FT infants. Socio-emotional stress response (i.