EFFECTIVENESS OF COMPREHENSIVE PRETERM INFANT DEVELOPMENTAL CARE PROGRAM ON PARENTAL SELF-EFFICACY, GROWTH AND NEUROBEHAVIORAL DEVELOPMENT OF HOSPITALIZED PRETERM INFANTS

Abstract

Even after being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), preterm infants are an especially vulnerable population that requires specialized care to promote their growth and development. The purposes of this mixed-method design were to develop the Comprehensive Preterm Infant Developmental Care (CPIDC) program and test its effects on parental self-efficacy, growth, and the neurobehavioral development of preterm infants during hospitalization. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants for the qualitative approach (n = 10) and randomly assigned 46 voluntary dyads of parents and preterm infants to the experimental (n = 23) and control (n = 23) groups for the quantitative approach. Data was collected in Chon Buri hospital from April 2021 to January 2022. The experimental group received the CPIDC program, which consisted of four sessions over one week, and the usual care, while the control group only received usual care. The digital weight scale, measuring tape, Neonatal Neurobehavioral Examination (NNE) scale, and the Perceived Maternal Parenting Self-Efficacy (PMP S-E), were among the research instruments used to collect data. The inter-rater reliability of NNE was .93. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the PMP S-E was .94. Content analysis, descriptive statistics, the chi-square test, the Fisher exact test, the independent t-test, and two-way repeated measures ANOVA (one-between and one-within) were used to analyze the data.

From the qualitative perspective of parents, the findings revealed that collaborative participation was the key to success in promoting parental participation in the developmental care of preterm infants during NICU hospitalization. The experimental group had significantly higher mean scores for neurobehavioral development, head circumference gain, length gain, and parental self-efficacy than the control group (F1, 44 = 16.155, p < .001; F1, 44 = 6.125, p < .05, F1,44 = 8.165, p < .01; F1, 44 = 6.070, p < .05, respectively). However, there was no significant difference in mean scores of weight gain (F1, 44 = 3.631, p >.05), but there were significantly higher mean scores of weight gain velocity and growth velocity than the control group on the 28th day from 14th day = 2.407, p < .05 and t = 2.291, p < .05, respectively). The experimental group had significantly higher mean scores of neurobehavioral development, growth, and parental self-efficacy at the 14th and 28th days than at the baseline. This program demonstrated statistically significant enhancements in preterm infant neurobehavioral development, growth, and parental self-efficacy in the short term. Therefore, it is recommended that this program be implemented in the NICU.

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