Original articleThe Infant Behavioral Assessment and Intervention Program for Very Low Birth Weight Infants at 6 Months Corrected Age
Section snippets
Methods
A randomized controlled trial was carried out in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Two level-III hospitals with neonatal intensive care unit facilities and all 5 city hospitals participated. The Medical Ethics Committees of all hospitals involved approved the study design. All infants of gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks and/or birth weight <1500 g whose parents lived in Amsterdam were eligible for the study. Infants with severe congenital abnormalities, those born of mothers with a documented history
Results
Recruitment took place between January 2004 and April 2006. A total of 315 infants were eligible for the study (Figure). Ultimately 176 infants and their parents participated; 86 were assigned to the intervention group, and 90 were assigned to the control group. NIDCAP formed no standard part of the care, although a limited number of very ill infants received NIDCAP care, equally divided between the intervention (n = 4) and control groups (n = 4). All except 1 of the 86 intervention infants
Discussion
Our data show that the IBAIP improved developmental and neurobehavioral outcomes in our VLBW infants at age 6 months. Because of greater immaturity and illness, adjustments for baseline differences were warranted and revealed better mental and motor development in the infants in the intervention group. Consistent with the aim of the intervention, the intervention group also had more positive behavioral and neurobehavioral outcomes. This was demonstrated on the BRS by greater information
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Supported by grants from the Innovatiefonds Zorgverzekeraars (project 576, supporting the implementation of the intervention program) and Zorg Onderzoek Nederland (project 62200032, supporting the first author, who wrote the first draft of the manuscript). The sponsors had no involvement in study design; collection, analysis, or interpretation of the data; writing of the report; or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The trial is registered with controlled-trials.com (ISRCTN65503576).