Effect of Multisensory Stimulation on Neuromotor Development in Preterm Infants

Introduction. Premature infants undergo a lot of stressful procedures during care and treatment procedure, which may lead to weight changes. Multisensory stimulation is a broad classification of interventions designed to improve the developmental and physiological outcomes of preterm infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of multisensory stimuli on weight gain in preterm infants admitted to the NICU. Materials and methods. This study was a two-group randomized controlled trial (multisensory stimulation and control group). Forty preterm infants admitted to the NICU who met the inclusion criteria were selected. The intervention method was a multisensory stimulation program including auditory stimulation, tactile stimulation, visual stimulation and vestibular stimulation, which were performed by the researcher for 12 min (each stimulation lasting for 3 min). The infant nutrition was monitored and recorded during the intervention and the infant’s weight was measured after changing diapers every morning for a 7 days. It was conducted in the two groups using a calibrated scale of confirmed validity and reliability. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 software, paired t-test and independent t-test. Results. Based on the findings of the present study, an upturn was observed in weight gain of preterm infants as a result of multisensory intervention. This indicates that the intervention improves weight gain in premature infants. Conclusions. Since premature infants are usually hospitalized in the NICU for a long time due to their low weight and poor physical condition, they are mostly cared by nurses. Hence, considering its positive outcomes, besides specialized care, this effective and very low cost method could be used by nurses to promote weight gain and early discharge of preterm infants.

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Neuromotor Development of Preterm Infants Through the First Year of Life

Physical & Occupational Therapy In Pediatrics ◽

10.1300/j006v12n04_04 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 37-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Doreen Bartlett ◽

Martha Piper

Keyword(s):

Preterm Infants ◽

First Year ◽

First Year Of Life ◽

Neuromotor Development

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Impact of physiotherapy on neuromotor development of premature newborns

Fisioterapia em Movimento ◽

10.1590/0103-5150.027.003.ao12 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 27 (3) ◽

pp. 413-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Giselle Athayde Xavier Coutinho ◽

Daniela de Mattos Lemos ◽

Antônio Prates Caldeira

Keyword(s):

Preterm Infants ◽

Motor Development ◽

Perinatal Care ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

Full Term ◽

Control Group ◽

Term Infants ◽

Significance Level ◽

The Impact ◽

Neuromotor Development

Introduction The population of children born prematurely has increased in line with improving the quality of perinatal care. It is essential to ensure to these children a healthy development. Objective We evaluate the neuromotor development of a group of preterm infants regularly assisted by a physiotherapy service in comparison to full-term newborns, checking, so the impact of the service. Materials and methods We randomly assigned preterm and full-term infants that formed two distinct groups. The group of preterm infants was inserted into a monitoring program of physiotherapy while the other infants were taken as a control group not receiving any assistance in physiotherapy. The groups were compared using the Alberta Infant Motor Scale (AIMS) at forty-week, four and six months of corrected gestational age and the scores were compared using Student's t-test, assuming a significance level of 5% (p < 0.05). Results The preterm group had significantly lower scores at 40th week compared to the control group, but subsequent scores showed no significant differences between the two groups. Conclusion The timely and adequate stimulation was efficient to promote the motor development of premature infants included in a follow up clinic.

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Effect of specific physiotherapy interventions in comparison with multisensory stimulation on neurobehavioral outcome and weight gain in preterm infants: a randomized control trial

International Journal of Contemporary Pediatrics ◽

10.18203/2349-3291.ijcp20175582 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 178

Author(s):

Unis D. Nadar ◽

Pareshkumar A. Thakkar ◽

Chaitali Shah

Keyword(s):

Weight Gain ◽

Preterm Infants ◽

Perinatal Asphyxia ◽

Statistical Tests ◽

Normal Brain ◽

Neurodevelopmental Outcomes ◽

Sensory Stimuli ◽

Multisensory Stimulation ◽

Physiotherapy Intervention ◽

Neurobehavioral Outcome

Background: A premature infant is deprived of in-utero sensory experiences which are essential for normal brain development and rather is exposed to unusual sensory stimuli in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) that pose risk to the developing brain in terms of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes. The objective of this study was to study and compare the effect of specific physiotherapy intervention with multisensory stimulation on neurobehavioral outcome and weight gain in preterm infants. Inclusion criteria was preterm infants appropriate for gestational age more than 32 weeks, babies who were hemodynamically stable and babies receiving full enteral feeds. Exclusion criteria were major congenital anomalies, inability to undergo intervention (any fracture) or perinatal asphyxia. Methods: Eligible infants were randomly allocated into one of the two groups. Group A was offered multisensory stimulation: Auditory, Tactile, Visual and Vestibular (ATVV). Group B received Specific Physiotherapy Intervention (SPI) in form of kinesthetic exercises, oil massage and oral stimulation. The outcome was studied before and after intervention. Appropriate statistical tests were applied. Results: Both the groups had better suck co-ordination and improvement on neurobehavioral scale following intervention when compared to pre-intervention status (P<0.0001). When both groups were compared, SPI group had better sucking coordination than ATVV group, improvement in neurobehavioral scale was similar in either group.Conclusions: In preterm infants, Specific Physiotherapy Interventions are more effective in improving suck co-ordination, has better weight gain and are equally effective in improving neurobehavioral outcome compared to multisensory stimulation.

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Biobehavioural reactivity to pain in preterm infants: a marker of neuromotor development

Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology ◽

10.1111/j.1469-8749.2006.tb01298.x ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 48 (6) ◽

pp. 471-476 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Ruth E Grunau ◽

Michael F Whitfield ◽

Taryn Fay ◽

Liisa Holsti ◽

Timothy Oberlander ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Preterm Infants ◽

Neuromotor Development

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Effect of Multisensory Stimulation on Pain of Eye Examination in Preterm Infants

Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine ◽

10.5812/aapm.42561 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hossein Zeraati ◽

Javad Shahinfar ◽

Hamidreza Behnam Vashani ◽

Tayebeh Reyhani

Keyword(s):

Preterm Infants ◽

Multisensory Stimulation ◽

Eye Examination

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Behavioral Responses to Multisensory Stimulation in Preterm Infants

Journal of Nepal Paediatric Society ◽

10.3126/jnps.v36i2.14850 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 (2) ◽

pp. 110-114 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Parimala S. Kanagasabai ◽

Divya Mohan ◽

Leslie E Lewis ◽

Bhamini K. Rao

Keyword(s):

Intensive Care Unit ◽

Preterm Infants ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Tactile Stimulation ◽

Behavioral Responses ◽

Sensory Stimulation ◽

Vestibular Stimulation ◽

Multisensory Stimulation ◽

Behavioral Cues ◽

Convenience Sampling

Background: Behavioral responses of preterm infant to sensory stimulation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) are important to understand. This would enable NICU professionals to be cautious of overloading stimulations and ensure stability in preterm infants. The aim of this study was to describe the range of behavioral responses associated with multisensory (auditory, visual, tactile and vestibular) stimulation in preterm infants.Material and Methods: We recruited twenty-five preterm infants born at 28 to 36 weeks and birth weight of 1000 to 2000 grams for the study using convenience sampling. In the NICU, preterm infants from 32 weeks gestational age received multisensory stimulation session for duration of 12 minutes per day until discharge along with routine NICU care. During the stimulation, the behavioral responses of the preterm infants were observed and documented.Results: Limb activity and yawning were the most frequently observed behaviors. Sixty-five percent of the behavioral responses were observed during tactile stimulation. The frequency of observed behavioral responses decreased with successive stimulation sessions, which could indicate habituation responses in preterm infants to multisensory stimulation.Conclusions: Preterm infants showed behavioral responses indicating improved alertness and ability to integrate sensory stimulus. However, interpretation of preterm behaviors is a challenge because these behavioral responses could also indicate stress in preterm infants when coupled with other physiological and behavioral cues. Further studies are required to provide a detailed evidence for better clarity of infant’s responses to environmental stimuli.J Nepal Paediatr Soc 2016;36(2):110-114

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