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Objective: Evaluate the effect of a manualized multisensory program, applied across NICU hospitalization, on infant and parent outcomes., Study Design: Seventy parent-infant dyads (born ≤32 weeks gestation) in a Level IV NICU were randomized at birth to the multisensory program or standard-of-care. Parents in the multisensory group administered prespecified amounts of age-appropriate, evidence-based sensory interventions to their infants each day during NICU hospitalization according to the Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE) program., Results: Infants who received the SENSE program had more lethargy on the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) (p = 0.05), even after controlling for medical and social risk (p = 0.043), and had higher Communication scores on the Ages and Stages Questionnaire (p = 0.04) at 1-year corrected age, but this relationship failed to reach significance after controlling for medical and social risk (p = 0.12)., Conclusion: The SENSE program shows promise for improving outcomes, but more research with larger sample sizes is needed., (© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc.)

Aim: Define relationships of early feeding performance with feeding outcomes in childhood, while assessing the predictive validity of the Neonatal Eating Outcome Assessment., Study Design: Ninety-one infants (44 preterm infants born ≤32 weeks at term-equivalent age and 47 full-term infants within 4 days of life) had feeding evaluated using the Neonatal Eating Outcome Assessment and the Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS). At 4 years of age, 39 of these infants (22 preterm infants and 17 full-term infants; 43% follow-up rate) had parent-report measures of feeding conducted using the Behavioral Pediatrics Feeding Assessment Scale (BPFAS) and Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool (PediEAT)., Results: Lower Neonatal Eating Outcome Assessment scores were related to higher PediEAT scores (p = 0.01; r = -0.44), but were not related to BPFAS scores (p = 0.17; r = -0.23). Relationships were not detected between the NOMAS and BPFAS (p = 0.35; r = 0.17), and relationships between the NOMAS and PediEAT failed to reach significance (p = 0.06; r = 0.34). There was a relationship between the BPFAS and PediEAT scores at 4 years (p < 0.001; r = 0.66). Preterm infants performed poorer than full-term infants on the Neonatal Eating Outcome Assessment (p < 0.001) and NOMAS (p < 0.001), but no differences were detected in preterm compared to full-term performance on the BPFAS (p = 0.87) and PediEAT scores (p = 0.27)., Discussion: Neonatal feeding performance is an important predictor of feeding outcomes at 4 years of age. The Neonatal Eating Outcome Assessment has predictive validity, and the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool has concurrent validity with relationships to another childhood feeding tool., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Aim: To define the process of tool development and revision for the Neonatal Eating Outcome (NEO) Assessment and to report preliminary inter-rater reliability., Methods: Tool development consisted of a review of the literature and observations of feeding performance among 178 preterm infants born ≤32 weeks gestation. 11 neonatal therapy feeding experts provided structured feedback to establish content validity and define the scoring matrix. The tool was then used to evaluate feeding in 50 preterm infants born ≤32 weeks of gestation and 50 full-term infants. Multiple revisions occurred at each stage of development. Finally, six neonatal occupational therapists participated in reliability testing by independently scoring five videos of oral feeding of preterm infants using version 4 of the tool., Results: The intraclass correlation for the 'prefeeding' score was 0.71 (0.37-0.96), and the intraclass correlation for the 'total' score was 0.83 (0.56-0.98)., Conclusion: The 'total' score had good to excellent reliability. Fleiss' Kappa scores for all 18 scorable items ranged from slight agreement to moderate agreement. Items with the lowest Kappa scores were revised, and additional feedback from therapists engaged in reliability testing was incorporated, resulting in final version 5., (©2017 Foundation Acta Paediatrica. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Objective: To evaluate associations between neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) room type (open ward and private room) and medical outcomes; neurobehavior, electrophysiology, and brain structure at hospital discharge; and developmental outcomes at 2 years of age., Study Design: In this prospective longitudinal cohort study, we enrolled 136 preterm infants born <30 weeks gestation from an urban, 75-bed level III NICU from 2007-2010. Upon admission, each participant was assigned to a bedspace in an open ward or private room within the same hospital, based on space and staffing availability, where they remained for the duration of hospitalization. The primary outcome was developmental performance at 2 years of age (n = 86 infants returned for testing, which was 83% of survivors) measured using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development, 3rd Edition. Secondary outcomes were: (1) medical factors throughout the hospitalization; (2) neurobehavior; and (3) cerebral injury and maturation (determined by magnetic resonance imaging and electroencephalography)., Results: At term equivalent age, infants in private rooms were characterized by a diminution of normal hemispheric asymmetry and a trend toward having lower amplitude integrated electroencephalography cerebral maturation scores (P = .02; β = -0.52 [CI -0.95, -0.10]). At age 2 years, infants from private rooms had lower language scores (P = .006; β = -8.3 [CI -14.2, -2.4]) and a trend toward lower motor scores (P = .02; β = -6.3 [CI -11.7, -0.99]), which persisted after adjustment for potential confounders., Conclusion: These findings raise concerns that highlight the need for further research into the potential adverse effects of different amounts of sensory exposure in the NICU environment., (Copyright © 2014 Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)