Feasibility of Stress Research in Premature Infant-Maternal Dyads During and After Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Hospitalization.
Kathryn J Malin, Kristin Kruschel, Kaboni Gondwe and 5 others
PMID 37948632WHAT IT FOUND
Premature infant-mother dyads could be enrolled in NICU stress research, and mothers accepted the protocol.
Stress marker relationships were preliminary, with only maternal oxytocin changing between NICU enrollment and three months after discharge.
Key findings
0120 infant-maternal dyads consented, and 14 mothers completed the three-month acceptability visit.
02All participating mothers said they would join a similar study, and only one reported difficulty donating saliva.
03Infant DNA methylation was correlated with chronic NICU stress, and maternal acute stress was correlated with later post-traumatic stress.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study enrolled only 20 dyads and did not use a power analysis, so it cannot establish stress relationships. Follow-up data were available for only 14 mothers, and 40% of dyads who did not attend the three-month visit listed current infection as the reason; one mother reported lack of transportation. The sample was majority white and non-Latinx, and 60% of enrolled infants were born between 32 and 36 weeks gestation, while NICU data showed 44% of annual admissions are in that range. Infant age at the three-month visit varied because hospitalization length varied, so the study cannot separate age effects from stress effects. The study did not measure maternal presence in the NICU or account for saliva collection timing related to breastfeeding or pumping. Fathers and other parents were not included. The theoretical framework was older and did not fully capture family stress complexity.
Declared interests
The paper reports no competing interests. It does not state a funding source.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that NICU stress caused infant epigenetic changes or that measuring stress markers improves care. This was a 20-dyad feasibility study, and the stress relationships were exploratory.