Effect of kangaroo mother care on cerebral oxygenation, physiological parameters, and comfort levels in late-premature infants: A randomized controlled trial.

Objective: To measure the effects kangaroo mother care (KMC) on the regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO ₂ ) measured with near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in premature infants and to study the physiological stability and comfort of the infants during such interventions.
Design: This was a prospective, single-centered, single-blind, 2-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial conducted.
Settings: The study was carried out in a tertiary neonatal intensive care unit in Medical Faculty Hospital in Konya/Turkey.
Participants: Premature infants born between 24 and 36 ⁺⁶ weeks. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups: kangaroo care (n = 20) and control groups (n = 20). The rSO ₂ , oxygen saturation (%SpO ₂ ), heart rate (HR), respiratory rate, body temperature, and comfort levels of the infants were evaluated in three stages.
Findings: In the 60th min measurement of the intervention group, rSO ₂ , body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and, comfort level, the comfort level was found to be higher and significant in the 30th and 60th min measurements (p < 0.001). In the intervention group, the rSO ₂ (p < 0.001), body temperature (p < 0.001), HR (p < 0.001), SpO ₂ (p < 0.001), respiratory rate (p < 0.001), and comfort levels (p < 0.001) scores with the control group and the group × time interaction was significant.
Key Conclusions: KMC moderately increased the rSO ₂ levels and also created a moderate effect size on the physiological parameters and comfort levels of the newborns, which implicates its short-term benefits for premature infants.
Practice Implications: KMC may be beneficial in stabilizing rSO ₂ and physiological parameters and increasing comfort in premature infants. The trial was registered in ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT04725435).
Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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