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
. 2023 Oct 28;10(11):1751.
doi: 10.3390/children10111751.

Impacts of Integrating Family-Centered Care and Developmental Care Principles on Neonatal Neurodevelopmental Outcomes among High-Risk Neonates

Nourah Alsadaan  1 , Osama Mohamed Elsayed Ramadan  1 , Mohammed Alqahtani  2 , Mostafa Shaban  1 , Nadia Bassuoni Elsharkawy  1 , Enas Mahrous Abdelaziz  1 , Sayed Ibrahim Ali  3
Affiliations

Impacts of Integrating Family-Centered Care and Developmental Care Principles on Neonatal Neurodevelopmental Outcomes among High-Risk Neonates

Nourah Alsadaan et al. Children (Basel). .

Abstract

Background: Integrating family-centered care (FCC) and developmental care (DC) principles in neonatal care settings may improve neurodevelopmental outcomes for high-risk neonates. However, the combined impact of FCC and DC has been underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the effects of integrated FCC and DC on neurodevelopment and length of hospital stay in high-risk neonates.

Methods: A quasi-experimental pre-post study was conducted among 200 high-risk neonates (<32 weeks gestation or <1500 g) admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICU) in Saudi Arabia. The intervention group (n = 100) received integrated FCC and DC for 6 months. The control group (n = 100) received standard care. Neurodevelopment was assessed using the Bayley Scales of Infant Development-III. Length of stay and readmissions were extracted from medical records.

Results: The intervention group showed significant improvements in cognitive, motor, and language scores compared to controls (p < 0.05). The intervention group had a 4.3-day reduction in the mean length of stay versus a 1.4-day reduction in controls (p = 0.02). Integrated care independently predicted higher cognitive scores (p = 0.001) and shorter stays (p = 0.006) in regression models.

Conclusion: Integrating FCC and DC in neonatal care enhances neurodevelopmental outcomes and reduces hospitalization for high-risk neonates compared to standard care. Implementing relationship-based, developmentally supportive models is critical for optimizing outcomes in this vulnerable population.

Keywords: Bayley Scales; developmental care; family-centered care; high-risk neonates; neurodevelopment; preterm infants.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Davis B.E., Leppert M.O., German K., Lehmann C.U., Adams-Chapman I., Noritz G., Agrawal R., Foster J.E.A., Fremion E., Frierson S., et al. Primary Care Framework to Monitor Preterm Infants for Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Early Childhood. Pediatrics. 2023;152:e2023062511. doi: 10.1542/peds.2023-062511. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lipner H.S., Huron R.F. Developmental and Interprofessional Care of the Preterm Infant: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit through High-Risk Infant Follow-Up. Pediatr. Clin. N. Am. 2018;65:135–141. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2017.08.026. - DOI - PubMed
    1. O’Callaghan N., Dee A., Philip R.K. Evidence-Based Design for Neonatal Units: A Systematic Review. Matern. Health Neonatol. Perinatol. 2019;5:6. doi: 10.1186/s40748-019-0101-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mushtaq A., Kazi F. Family-Centred Care in the NICU. Lancet Child Adolesc. Health. 2019;3:295–296. doi: 10.1016/S2352-4642(19)30089-6. - DOI
    1. Reid S., Bredemeyer S., Chiarella M. The Evolution of Neonatal Family Centred Care. J. Neonatal Nurs. 2021;27:327–333. doi: 10.1016/j.jnn.2021.03.002. - DOI

LinkOut - more resources