Effect of Early Stimulation Therapy on Neurodevelopmental Outcome of Preterm Infants at Six Month of Age
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Background: Preterm infants frequently have neurodevelopmental disorders which leads to neonatal morbidities. To prevent such morbidities, early stimulation therapy is given to infants to improve their neurodevelopment outcome. This study evaluated the effects of early stimulation therapy on neurodevelopmental outcome of preterm infants at six month of age. Methods: This hospital based prospective cohort study was conducted at the Child Development Centre (CDC) in Dhaka Medical College Hospital, for a period of 12 months. A total of 60 Preterm infants within 45 days of age, who came for follow up at the center was included after informed written consent. Early stimulation therapy was given to infants within 45 days of age, at 3rd month of age and neurodevelopmental assessment was done according to different developmental domains at their 3rd and 6th month of age by Rapid Neurodevelopmental Assessment (RNDA) tool. Data was collected by interview using a structured questionnaire. Collected data was then analyzed by the SPSS 25. Results: The mean age of the study population was 34.17±5.67 SD days at 1st assessment and male predominance was observed (60%). More than half of the mothers had irregular antenatal visits (58.3%). The mean gestational age and birth weight of the infants were 33.20±1.55SD weeks and 1895.83±235.48SD g respectively. About 63.4% of preterm infants had delayed crying after birth. The common impaired RNDA domains at 1st assessment was cognition (53.3%), primitive reflex (48.3%) and behavior (48.3%). At 3rd month follow-up, RNDA domains, hearing, cognition and behavior significantly improved compared to baseline assessment (p<0.05). At 6th month follow-up, majority of the RNDA domains significantly improved after early stimulation therapy and severity of impaired neurodevelopment reduced significantly (p<0.05). Conclusion: Early stimulation therapy, showed significant improvement in neurodevelopmental outcome in preterm infants after 6 months follow-up. However, further study with larger sample size is recommended.
Language: English
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7204107367