Multisensory Interventions to Improve Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants Hospitalized in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit
University of Southern California
Summary
The long-term goal of this project is to improve the health and well-being of preterm infants and their parents. Although there is evidence to support positive multisensory interventions in the NICU, these interventions are often applied in an inconsistent manner, reducing their benefit. Through a rigorous and scientific process, we have developed a structured multisensory intervention program, titled Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE), which includes specific doses and targeted timing of evidence-based interventions such as massage, auditory exposure, rocking, holding, and skin-to-skin care. The interventions are based on the infant's developmental stage and are adapted based on the infant's medical status and behavioral cues. The multisensory interventions are designed to be conducted during each day of NICU hospitalization by the parents, who are educated and supported to provide them. The proposed work aims to determine the effect of multisensory interventions on parent mental health, parent-child interaction, brain activity (amplitude integrated electroencephalography), and infant developmental outcomes through age 2 years, with specific attention to language outcome.
Description
Two-hundred fifteen parent-infant dyads of preterm infants born ≤ 32 weeks gestation and admitted to a Level IV NICU (and associated Level III NICU) will be enrolled within 1 week of birth. Infants will be randomized to either the SENSE multisensory program or to the standard of care during the NICU stay. The SENSE program combines structured, easy-to-conduct, multisensory interventions with parent engagement to optimize outcomes in the complex medical environment of the NICU. Standardized assessments of parent mental health, infant neurodevelopment, and parent-child interaction will be conduc…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 0–0 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * ≤ 32 weeks estimated gestational age (EGA) * recruited within the first week of life Exclusion Criteria: * \> 32 weeks EGA at birth * \>7 days old * become wards of the state * have a suspected or confirmed congenital anomaly * face a high immediate threat of death, per the opinion of the attending physician.
Interventions
- BehavioralSENSE multisensory program
In order to support parent's ability to implement the daily SENSE program they will be provided with an educational manual reviewing the program, weekly meetings with a therapist, and logs to report their visitation schedule and activities. Parents are able to choose different types of each sensory exposure. All options address the same key principles for that behavior and only include those that have evidence to support their use and are appropriate at each PMA.
- BehavioralMonitored standard of care
Infants who receive sensory exposures only as standard of care but do not recieve the SENSE program
Location
- Cardinal Glennon Children's HospitalSt Louis, Missouri