Título: Investigating skin-to-skin care patterns with extremely preterm infants in the NICU and their effect on early cognitive and communication performance: a retrospective cohort study
Resumen:Objectives: The primary objective of the study was to investigate how patterns of skin-to-skin care might impact infant early cognitive and communication performance. Design: This was a retrospective cohort study. Setting: This study took place in a level-IV all-referral neonatal intensive care unit in the Midwest USA specialising in the care of extremely preterm infants. Participants: Data were collected from the electronic medical records of all extremely preterm infants (gestational age 0.05). Mothers provided the majority of skin-to-skin care with a sharp decline at 30 weeks corrected age, regardless of when extremely preterm infants were admitted. Additional exploratory network analysis suggests that medical and skin-to-skin factors play a parallel, non-synergistic role in contributing to early cognitive and communication performance as assessed through the Bayley-III. Conclusions: This study suggests an association between early and frequent skin-to-skin care with extremely preterm infants and early cognitive and communication performance.