Early Intervention in Preterm Infants: Short and Long Term Developmental Outcome After a Parental Training Program

NCT ID: NCT02983513

Last Updated: 2023-02-10

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

70 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2014-04-30

Study Completion Date

2023-01-31

Brief Summary

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Preterm infants, during their stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), face a period of stressful environment, which may negatively impact early brain development and subsequent neurobehavioral outcomes. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of training parents in reducing stressful experiences early in life and in enhancing brain development and long term developmental outcomes.

Detailed Description

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Very preterm birth is associated with motor, cognitive and behavioral problems.

Micro-structural brain abnormalities, even in the absence of focal lesions, have been documented by neuroimaging studies in preterm infants at term corrected age and later in childhood. These alterations in brain maturation occurring during the neonatal period may be implicated in long-term neurobehavioral disorders later experienced by preterm babies.

However, there is increasing evidence that also negative environmental factors (intensive care, excessive sensory stimulation, paucity of parental contact etc.) can affect later outcomes.

Potential benefits of early dyadic interaction and preterm baby massage in reducing the effects of the NICU stressor environment have been demonstrated. More recently, few studies have investigated visual function in preterm infants focusing on the potential role of early visual interaction to enhance attention and improve later neurodevelopment.

The role of early intervention strategies to improve neurodevelopment has been recently emphasized.

Early intervention programs based on the concept of "individualized care" have proved to be effective in promoting brain maturation and neurodevelopmental outcome. In this context, early interventions as the Mother Infant Transaction Program (MITP) and the Premie Start, both targeting parenting, have the greatest potential to have sustained effects on child development.

In addition, recent studies have shown that exposure to stressful events in the neonatal period can cause epigenetic modifications in children born preterm; in particular alteration of serotonergic tone was observed, associated with methylation of the serotonin transporter gene, which could be implicated in the etiology of behavioral disorders observed in these children. In animal models these epigenetic effects appear to be influenced by maternal care that can epigenetically modulate the offsprings' stress response.

Conditions

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Premature Birth

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Blinding Strategy

DOUBLE

Participants Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Early Intervention

The early intervention program is delivered during the NICU stay, according to the MITP and Premie Start Protocol, in order to train parents to: recognize signs of infant stress and alert-available behavior to promote mother-infant interaction; adopt principles of graded stimulation; optimize interactions and avoid overwhelming infants through facilitation strategies (for example, engage and support the visual attention of the newborn). The program is held in eight main sessions and one additional post-discharge session.

In addition parents are trained and invited to daily promote preterm baby massage therapy and visual attention according to a detailed protocol.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Early Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Standard Care

Standard Care according to NICU protocols including Kangaroo Mother Care, nesting and minimal handling

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

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Early Intervention

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Gestational age between 25+0 and 29+6 weeks

Exclusion Criteria

* major brain lesions as documented by cranial ultrasound (intraventricular hemorrhage \> 2 grade, cystic periventricular leukomalacia)
* neurosensorial deficits (retinopathy of prematurity \> stage 2)
* genetic syndromes and/or major congenital malformations
* major neonatal comorbidities
Minimum Eligible Age

25 Weeks

Maximum Eligible Age

29 Weeks

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda, Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Monica Fumagalli, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico

Locations

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NICU, Fondazione IRCCS Cà Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico

Milan, , Italy

Site Status

Countries

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Italy

References

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Newnham CA, Milgrom J, Skouteris H. Effectiveness of a modified Mother-Infant Transaction Program on outcomes for preterm infants from 3 to 24 months of age. Infant Behav Dev. 2009 Jan;32(1):17-26. doi: 10.1016/j.infbeh.2008.09.004. Epub 2008 Nov 20.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19026450 (View on PubMed)

Provenzi L, Fumagalli M, Sirgiovanni I, Giorda R, Pozzoli U, Morandi F, Beri S, Menozzi G, Mosca F, Borgatti R, Montirosso R. Pain-related stress during the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit stay and SLC6A4 methylation in very preterm infants. Front Behav Neurosci. 2015 Apr 21;9:99. doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2015.00099. eCollection 2015.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25941480 (View on PubMed)

Guzzetta A, D'Acunto MG, Carotenuto M, Berardi N, Bancale A, Biagioni E, Boldrini A, Ghirri P, Maffei L, Cioni G. The effects of preterm infant massage on brain electrical activity. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2011 Sep;53 Suppl 4:46-51. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8749.2011.04065.x.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 21950394 (View on PubMed)

Ricci D, Cesarini L, Romeo DM, Gallini F, Serrao F, Groppo M, De Carli A, Cota F, Lepore D, Molle F, Ratiglia R, De Carolis MP, Mosca F, Romagnoli C, Guzzetta F, Cowan F, Ramenghi LA, Mercuri E. Visual function at 35 and 40 weeks' postmenstrual age in low-risk preterm infants. Pediatrics. 2008 Dec;122(6):e1193-8. doi: 10.1542/peds.2008-1888.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19047222 (View on PubMed)

Ricci D, Romeo DM, Serrao F, Cesarini L, Gallini F, Cota F, Leone D, Zuppa AA, Romagnoli C, Cowan F, Mercuri E. Application of a neonatal assessment of visual function in a population of low risk full-term newborn. Early Hum Dev. 2008 Apr;84(4):277-80. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2007.10.002. Epub 2007 Nov 8.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 17996405 (View on PubMed)

Fontana C, Marasca F, Provitera L, Mancinelli S, Pesenti N, Sinha S, Passera S, Abrignani S, Mosca F, Lodato S, Bodega B, Fumagalli M. Early maternal care restores LINE-1 methylation and enhances neurodevelopment in preterm infants. BMC Med. 2021 Feb 5;19(1):42. doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01896-0.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 33541338 (View on PubMed)

Fontana C, De Carli A, Ricci D, Dessimone F, Passera S, Pesenti N, Bonzini M, Bassi L, Squarcina L, Cinnante C, Mosca F, Fumagalli M. Effects of Early Intervention on Visual Function in Preterm Infants: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Front Pediatr. 2020 Jun 4;8:291. doi: 10.3389/fped.2020.00291. eCollection 2020.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 32582595 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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MITP Preterm

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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