A Randomized Controlled Trial of Listening Visits for Mothers of Hospitalized Newborns.
Lisa S Segre, Jennifer E McCabe, Rebecca Chuffo Davila and 3 others
PMID 36920154WHAT IT FOUND
Nurse-delivered listening visits did not lower average depression scores more than usual NICU social-work mental health care.
A separate analysis found more mothers had a clinically meaningful early improvement after four weeks, but the main comparison was null.
Key findings
01Nurse-delivered listening visits did not produce a significant difference in average depression scores compared with usual social-work mental health care, although both groups improved over time.
02In a post-hoc analysis, 56.3% of listening-visit participants had a reliable decrease in depression symptom scores at 4 weeks, compared with 23.8% of usual-care participants.
03Nurses delivered the listening visits with high fidelity, with average ratings of 4.3, 4.4, 4.2 and 4.3 for empathy, collaboration, nondirectiveness and autonomy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was small and pandemic-constrained, with enrollment stopped after 45 women were enrolled. The sample lacked ethnic diversity, and Black women have increased risk of NICU hospitalization but may especially benefit from such support. Some mothers could not complete six listening-visit sessions because their newborns were discharged early. Treatment use in the usual-care group was not documented. The clinically significant improvement finding was a post-hoc analysis, not the primary outcome.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest. Nurses were compensated by grant funding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the early clinical-improvement finding as proof that listening visits work. The primary average depression comparison was null, and the improvement finding was a post-hoc analysis.