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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2025 Apr 1;37(2):218-230.
doi: 10.1097/PEP.0000000000001181. Epub 2025 Jan 7.

Neonatal and Home-Based PT Improves Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants-A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sonia Khurana  1 , Leslie E Lewis, Daniel M Russell, Stacey C Dusing, Bhamini Krishna Rao
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Neonatal and Home-Based PT Improves Neurodevelopmental Outcomes of Preterm Infants-A Randomized Clinical Trial

Sonia Khurana et al. Pediatr Phys Ther. .

Abstract

Purpose: Investigate the effect of structured neonatal physical therapy program (SNP) on neurodevelopmental outcomes of moderate and late preterm (MLP) infants.

Methods: Sixty MLP infants were randomly allocated to usual care (UC) or SNP. A previous publication reported the effect of neonatal component of SNP at hospital discharge. This paper examined SNP's effect on motor, cognitive and language outcomes at 3 and 6 months using a 2-way mixed design ANOVA.

Results: Both groups were similar at baseline for motor scores. Infants receiving SNP significantly outperformed UC at all subsequent time points. At 3 and 6 months, SNP significantly outscored UC in cognitive and language outcomes.

Conclusion: SNP is effective in improving neurodevelopmental outcomes of MLP infants. However, caution is suggested in interpreting its effect on cognition and language as we lacked baseline scores to compare the longitudinal trajectory.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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