Visual Stimulation of Preterm Infants

NCT ID: NCT03302000

Last Updated: 2020-06-23

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

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

30 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2018-09-01

Study Completion Date

2019-12-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

Introduction: Prematurity rate has increased and is a risk factor for developmental delay. Preterm infants with low visual tracking might present deficits in cognition, language, and fine motor function in future ages. Few studies applied home stimulation of the visual system for preterm infant (PT) at an early age.

Objective: To compare the effects of early visual stimulation to a standard care group in visual function, motor and sensory development.

Methods: Randomized controlled trial. At home setting. Thirty healthy preterm infants, gestational age from 28 to 37 weeks, aged from one to two months of corrected age at the entrance of the study, with low visual function, will be evaluated. Participants will be randomly allocated to: (1) a standard care group, receiving orientation about general sensory and motor development, (2) an early visual stimulation group receiving a 4-week home based protocol applied by caregivers additional to standard care. Outcomes will be measured at before the beginning of stimulation, at the end of stimulation and at 6 months of corrected age. Primary outcome is visual function evaluated by ML Leonhardt Battery of Optotypes. Secondary outcomes include motor and sensory development evaluated by scales.

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Preterm Infant

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

2-arm, parallel-groups, pragmatic superiority randomised controlled trial. Allocation ratio will be 1:1
Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

TRIPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators
Two kind of researchers will be part of the study: a) assessors, which are the researchers that will perform assessments and apply stimulation with the caregivers; b) ratters, which are the researchers that will rate the scales from videos. Assessors will not be blind to group allocation. Ratters will be masked to group allocation, since videos analyses will be performed using coded study allocation. The statistician will also be blind to group allocation.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Visual stimulation

Early visual stimulation (EVS) will be implemented by caregivers.

Three phases:

1. the caregiver will establish eye-to-eye contact with the infant. The caregiver will communicate with the infant talking, singing, changing facial expressions, touching his/her face. Total duration of this part of stimulation is between 2 and 3 minutes
2. the caregivers will present visual contrast cards at a distance of 15-20 centimetres
3. the caregiver will present two toys to the infant

Stimulation will last for 28 days (4 weeks) in total, one time a day for 10-15 minutes, all days week.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Early Visual Stimulation

Intervention Type OTHER

Early visual stimulation

standard care

Intervention Type OTHER

standard care

standard care

Caregivers will receive an Illustrated Handbook, according to the age range of birth to three months. Assessors will explain all information contained in the handbook after the first assessment and randomisation.

Group Type OTHER

standard care

Intervention Type OTHER

standard care

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Early Visual Stimulation

Early visual stimulation

Intervention Type OTHER

standard care

standard care

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* gestational age between 28 and 37 weeks
* age at enrolment between one to two months of corrected age t
* absence of visual impairments evaluated with Red Reflex Examination and complete ophthalmology exam, which will be performed by a doctor at the hospital or the basic health units where the infants will be recruited
* infants at home
* presence of low acuity assessed by the ML-Leonhardt Optotypes Battery (absence of alertness, fixation and attention in at least three cards, or visual tracking classified as absent or brief for more than three cards)

Exclusion Criteria

* presence of any diagnosed neurological diseases
* presence of diagnosed respiratory diseases
* hypoxemia, hyperventilation or hypo-ventilation during assessments
* presence of congenital diseases
* presence of diagnosed visual impairments, such as blindness or low vision
* extreme premature, ie, with gestation age bellow 28 weeks due to higher risk of retinopathy of prematurity
* birth weight less than 1,000 grams due to higher risk of retinopathy of prematurity
* absence of alertness according with Precthl and Beintema
* preterm infant with unstable physiological conditions
* preterm infant receiving any kind of intervention such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, early intervention, aquatic stimulation, at the same time that our stimulation protocol is being applied since they can be confounders
* infants with medical fragility that prevent them to participate.
Minimum Eligible Age

1 Month

Maximum Eligible Age

2 Months

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Adriana Neves Dos Santos

Professor, Reseacher

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Araranguá, Santa Catarina, Brazil

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

Brazil

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

UFSC-SIGPEX / 201610782

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

Premavision Cohort Follow-up
NCT03207477 TERMINATED NA
Movement-based Infant Intervention
NCT03082313 COMPLETED NA