Sleep of preterm neonates under developmental care or regular environmental conditions

Steep is the main behavioral state of the premature infant. In adult intensive care units, steep deprivation has been reported as one of the major stressors. Developmental care (DC) aims to decrease stressful events in neonatal intensive care unit and support well-being. Aim: To assess whether DC is accompanied by changes in steep in preterm neonates. Methods: A prospective cross-over study included 33 preterm neonates [mean (S.D.): gestational age: 29.3 (1.8) weeks; birth weight: 1245 (336) g]. Polysomnography was performed in two randomly ordered 3-h periods with and without DC. A blinded electrophysiotogist analyzed steep. The total steep time (TST) was the primary outcome, duration of active (AS), quiet QS) and indeterminate steep, and latency before steep were the secondary outcomes. Non-parametric Wilcoxon tests and ANOVA were used. Results: In DC condition vs. control: TST increased [in minutes, mean (S.E.M.): 156.2 (2.9) vs. 139.2 (4.6), p=0.0021, with increase in AS [86.6 (3.7) vs. 77.0 (4.2), p=0.024] and in QS [47.1 (4.1) vs. 36.9 (4.2), p=0.015], and sleeping latency decreased (2.1 (0.7) vs. 10.5 (2.0), p=0.0005]. Conclusion: DC promoted steep in our study. The impact of DC on the neuro-behavioral outcome needs futures studies. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. Alt rights reserved.