The trajectories of physical growth in 4 months postnatal corrected age among preterm infants discharged from neonatal intensive care units and associated factors: A prospective study.
Wenying Gao, Taomei Zhang, Qihui Wang and 2 others
PMID 37128488WHAT IT FOUND
Preterm infants did not lag behind WHO term growth standards, but longer NICU stays, more skin punctures, maternal depression, and poorer mother-infant interaction were linked to slower growth.
Key findings
01Longer NICU stay and more skin punctures were associated with a lower level of weight gain at 40 weeks corrected age.
02Maternal postpartum depression was associated with slower growth in length, weight, or head circumference, depending on timing.
03Poorer mother-infant interaction was associated with slower weight gain.
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
Convenience sample from two Shanghai hospitals, so findings may not apply elsewhere. Most infants were born between 32 and 37 weeks, so it says little about very preterm infants. Attrition was substantial, with 191 dyads included at 4 months from 318, and missed visits during the pandemic may affect stability. No full-term control group was included, so comparison with term infants is limited. Infant stress was measured only by NICU length of stay, mechanical ventilation, and recorded skin punctures; repeated punctures and other stressors may have been missed. Maternal depression and mother-infant interaction were not modelled as changing over time. The study is observational, so associations cannot show cause.
Declared interests
No conflicts of interest were declared. Funding came from Shanghai Municipal Health Commission, Shanghai Hospital Development Center, and nursing development programs at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing NICU skin punctures, shortening NICU stay, or treating maternal depression will improve infant growth. This observational study reports associations, not proof of cause.