The effect of in-hospital developmental care on neonatal morbidity, growth and development of preterm Taiwanese infants

Introduction: Intervention studies of developmental care for preterm infants in Western societies have shown early but unsustainable effects on child outcomes, however only a limited of studies have examined if developmental care interventions produce similar effects in Eastern cultural contexts. Aims: To examine the effectiveness of in-hospital developmental care on neonatal morbidity, growth and development of preterm infants with very low birth weight (VLBW; birth weight < 1500. g) in Taiwan. Methods: One hundred and seventy-eight VLBW preterm infants were randomly assigned to the clinical trial during hospitalization at three hospitals in Taiwan; the control group received five sessions of standard child-focused developmental care and the intervention group received five sessions of child- and parent-focused developmental care. Sixty-two normal term infants were also included as a comparison group. Infants were examined for morbidity, growth and developmental outcomes at term age. Results: At study entry, more infants in the intervention group were twins or multiples than those in the control group (29% vs. 16%, p= 0.05). After adjusting for birth set, the intervention group had lower incidences of stage II-III retinopathy (odds ratio [OR] = 0.34 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.15-0.79]; p= 0.01) and feeding desaturation (OR = 0.32 [95% CI: 0.10-1.00]; p= 0.05) and had greater daily weight gains (difference = 2.0. g/day [95% CI: 0-4.0. g/day]; p= 0.05) as compared with the control group. However, the intervention and control groups did not differ in any of the neurodevelopmental measures. Conclusions: In-hospital developmental care has short-term benefits for Taiwanese VLBW preterm infants in reducing the risk of retinopathy and feeding desaturation as well as in enhancing weight gains at term age.