Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2013;6(1):45-52.
doi: 10.3233/NPM-1364212.

Does daily kangaroo care provide sustained pain and stress relief in preterm infants?

A J Mitchell  1 , C C Yates, D K Williams, J Y Chang, R Whit Hall
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Does daily kangaroo care provide sustained pain and stress relief in preterm infants?

A J Mitchell et al. J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2013.

Abstract

Objectives: 1. Determine whether stress in preterm infants, measured with salivary cortisol, decreases after five days of Kangaroo Care (KC) compared to five days of Standard Care (SC). 2. To determine whether kangaroo care provides sustainable pain relief beyond the period of skin-to-skin holding.

Study design: Preterm infants (n = 38) born at 27-30 weeks gestational age were randomized to either the KC or the SC group and received the allocated intervention starting on day of life (DOL) five and continuing for five days. Salivary cortisol was collected on DOL five and again on DOL ten. Differences were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA and t tests. Pain during nasal suctioning over five days was assessed using the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP).

Result: 1. Adequate saliva samples for salivary cortisol were collected for 13 KC infants and 11 SC infants. There was no main effect of group (p = 0.49), but there was a significant main effect of age (DOL five versus DOL ten), with salivary cortisol levels decreasing in both groups (p = 0.02). 2. Pain scores for both groups (n = 38) indicted mild to moderate pain during suctioning, with no significant difference in pain scores between groups.

Conclusion: 1. KC did not affect salivary cortisol levels in preterm neonates, but levels in both the KC and SC groups decreased over time from DOL five to ten. Salivary cortisol may vary with age of infant. 2. Infants experience pain during routine suctioning and may require pain management.

Keywords: Kangaroo care; pain; preterm infants; salivary cortisol.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Enrollment Flow Diagram for Infants in Pain and Stress Arm of Kangaroo Care Study
Figure 2
Figure 2
Changes in Salivary Cortisol Means (ng/ml) from Day of Life Five to Day of Life Ten
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Heron M, Sutton PD, Xu J, Ventura SJ, Strobino DM, Guyer B. Annual summary of vital statistics: 2007. Pediatrics. 2010;125:4–15. - PubMed
    1. Myers E, Ment LR. Long-term outcome of preterm infants and the role of neuroimaging. Clin Perinatol. 2009;36:773. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Als H. Toward a syntactive theory of development: Promise for the assessment and support of infant individuality. Infant Ment Health J. 1982;3:229–43.
    1. Anand KJ. Effects of perinatal pain and stress. Prog Brain Res. 2000;122:117–29. - PubMed
    1. Grunau RE, Haley DW, Whitfield MF, Weinberg J, Yu W, Thiessen P. Altered basal cortisol levels at 3, 6, 8 and 18 months in infants born at extremely low gestational age. J Pediatr. 2007;150:151–6. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms