Abstract

Background. Quality of life and standard of health care in a society is measured by preterm infants’ mortality rate. Alternative treatment may be effective in increasing survival rate of preterm infants. In premature infants, weight gain becomes the main criterion for hospital discharge. Neurodevelopmental treatment (NDT) can be safely ap-plied to premature infants who are in various physiological states and may enhance their weight. Purpose. This study aimed to investigate the effect of NDT on the duration of hospital stay and growth of premature infants at the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU). Methods. This convenient quasi-experimental study was conducted from September 2019 to November 2020 in NICU of Damanhur Teaching Hospital, Egypt. A total of 108 premature infants between 32 to 37 weeks gestational age with birth weight between 1150 to 3900 grams participated in this study. They were assigned into control and study groups. Weight, length and head circumference were measured as an indicators for growth for both groups before, after one week of intervention and at discharge. Both groups received their medical treatment in addition to conventional chest physical therapy program. An additional NDT was applied for the study group. Results. There is a significant increase of weight in both groups with a significant difference between groups only after one week of intervention in favor for the study group. There is a significance increase of length only in the study group with no significance differences between groups. However, there is no significance change in head circumference either between groups or among the measurement periods for each group. Results also revealed a significant decrease in hospitalization in NICU for the study group when compared with that of control group. Conclusion. It could be concluded that NDT could improve growth and minimize hospitalization of preterm infants in the NICU.

Key words:

neurodevelopmental treatment, hospitalization, growth, premature infants, neonatal intensive care unit