Self Regulated Physical Activity and Bone Growth Enhancement in Premature Infants

NCT ID: NCT03884322

Last Updated: 2019-03-21

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

54 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2013-10-21

Study Completion Date

2018-03-30

Brief Summary

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Premature very low birth weight (VLBW) infants were placed in two groups matched for birth age. The control group received traditional joint compression exercises designed to decrease bone density loss.

Exercises lasted approximately 10 minutes each day 5 days a week. The experimental group were placed in a "prepod", an elastic fabric pod shaped garment or sack on entry into the study and remained in the pod essentially 24 hours a day, with brief breaks for bathing, parental skin to skin experiences,etc. An ultrasound of the left tibia was done on entrance into the study at 31 to 32 weeks gestation and again at completion of the study 4 weeks later. Results showed that experimental infants in pods had slightly less bone density loss than their peers receiving traditional therapy. An incidental finding was that the experimental infants in pods had a significantly shorter length of stay.

Detailed Description

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During fetal development the developing babe pushes against the uterine wall, often kicking and punching the unfortunate mother, especially during the last few months of pregnancy. The striking out against the resistance of the uterine wall causes joint compression in the arms, legs, and spine and that sensory feedback triggers bone growth. Unfortunately in the premature infant they are robbed of that exercise opportunity and are either splayed out in an incubator trying to copy with movement against gravity or swaddled so that movement isn't really an option. As a result bone density loss occurs in essentially all premature infants and osteopenia or significant loss can be an issue.

Between 1995 and 2008 there was a good deal of work done on identifying the importance of exercise and movement for premature infants. Moyer-Mileur was the leading researcher in the USA who demonstrated that simple exercise programs could prevent or decrease bone density loss. Although there is a shortage of trained therapists to provide these exercises safely they became a fairly common practice by 2010. At about that time the neonatologists at the Asante facility asked to incorporate the exercises into the NICU therapy program and after appropriate training the exercises began.

The Asante NICU is highly developmentally oriented. Infants grow 150 million brain cells an hour during the last few months of pregnancy. Any of the multiple stressors of prematurity can create cortisol and affect that brain growth. For that reason therapists became concerned with the joint compression exercises. While they were good for bone and muscle health the exercises were not always welcomed by the infant. Even the most gentle compassionate therapist is not always welcome if the infant just wants to sleep or be left alone. Therapists sought a system that could provide the needed exercise but in a manner more developmentally appropriate. It took two years of experimenting with different types of materials and different strengths of elasticity before the Prepod design finally evolved. Then the obvious hypothesis was - Will the Prepod be as effective in decreasing bone density loss as the traditional therapy exercises?? After multiple issues replacing originally planned DEXA measurements with safer UTS measurements, the first subjects were enrolled in 2013. Unfortunately in 2015 an issue with the ultrasound machine was identified; the anti-theft anklets the infants wore emitted signals that had corrupted the data. The study needed to be restarted in 2015, removing the anklets prior to measurement. It then proceeded without incident, with expected completion late 2018. At the IRB (Institutional Review Board) review winter of 2017 the overseeing group concluded that the data for length of stay was so compelling that continuing the study wasn't likely to change anything and basically amounted to withholding care from the traditional exercise infants. They ordered early closure of the study, despite the small number of study participants.

Conditions

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Prematurity VLBW - Very Low Birth Weight Infant

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NON_RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Hypothesis: Premature infants placed in elastic fabric "pods" with opportunity to self initiate exercise pushing against fabric would maintain bone density as well as premature infants receiving traditional joint compression exercises by trained therapists
Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Masking not possible as obvious which child in pod. Infants were instead matched by age and weight to guarantee uniformity of sample

Study Groups

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Prepod Group

Premature Infants (31 to 32 weeks gestation on entry to program), healthy who wear a prepod or elastic knit fabric pod with snaps essentially 24 hrs a day with brief breaks for bathing, exams, or parent skin to skin time. The intervention lasts 4 weeks

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Prepod

Intervention Type OTHER

the prepod is either a 4 way stretch polyester blend fleece with 8 to 10% lycra, or a 95%cotton5% lycra blend knit. It comes in 4 different sizes to assure a pod that has a conforming but not restricting fit so that the infant is free to stretch in any direction at any time but is loosely held in a position of physiological flexion (the fetal position) when not stretching.

Control Group

Premature infants (31 to 32 weeks of age on entry to program), healthy who receive a joint compression exercise program approximately 10 minutes a day 5 days a week. The intervention lasts 4 weeks

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Joint compression exercises

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Each premature infant enrolled as a control subject received approximately 10 minutes of joint compression exercises provided by a NICU trained physical or occupational therapist 5x a week. The exercises consisted of waking the infant slowly, gently if necessary just before feeding with a simple range of motion stretching program then stabilizing an extremity and applying force distally to proximally for 6 repetitions with a brief pause between each compression.

Interventions

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Prepod

the prepod is either a 4 way stretch polyester blend fleece with 8 to 10% lycra, or a 95%cotton5% lycra blend knit. It comes in 4 different sizes to assure a pod that has a conforming but not restricting fit so that the infant is free to stretch in any direction at any time but is loosely held in a position of physiological flexion (the fetal position) when not stretching.

Intervention Type OTHER

Joint compression exercises

Each premature infant enrolled as a control subject received approximately 10 minutes of joint compression exercises provided by a NICU trained physical or occupational therapist 5x a week. The exercises consisted of waking the infant slowly, gently if necessary just before feeding with a simple range of motion stretching program then stabilizing an extremity and applying force distally to proximally for 6 repetitions with a brief pause between each compression.

Intervention Type PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

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Exclusion Criteria

\-
Minimum Eligible Age

32 Weeks

Maximum Eligible Age

36 Weeks

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Sponsors

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Asante Health System

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Barbara Kozol

Barbara Kozol,MS, OTL, staff neonatal occupational therapist

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Barbara Kozol, MS,OTL

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Barbara Kozol

Locations

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Rogue Regional Medical Center

Medford, Oregon, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Chan GM, Armstrong C, Moyer-Mileur L, Hoff C. Growth and bone mineralization in children born prematurely. J Perinatol. 2008 Sep;28(9):619-23. doi: 10.1038/jp.2008.59. Epub 2008 Jun 12.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18548083 (View on PubMed)

Hovi P, Andersson S, Jarvenpaa AL, Eriksson JG, Strang-Karlsson S, Kajantie E, Makitie O. Decreased bone mineral density in adults born with very low birth weight: a cohort study. PLoS Med. 2009 Aug;6(8):e1000135. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1000135. Epub 2009 Aug 25.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 19707270 (View on PubMed)

Moyer-Mileur L, Luetkemeier M, Boomer L, Chan GM. Effect of physical activity on bone mineralization in premature infants. J Pediatr. 1995 Oct;127(4):620-5. doi: 10.1016/s0022-3476(95)70127-3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 7562289 (View on PubMed)

Moyer-Mileur LJ, Brunstetter V, McNaught TP, Gill G, Chan GM. Daily physical activity program increases bone mineralization and growth in preterm very low birth weight infants. Pediatrics. 2000 Nov;106(5):1088-92. doi: 10.1542/peds.106.5.1088.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 11061779 (View on PubMed)

Vignochi CM, Miura E, Canani LH. Effects of motor physical therapy on bone mineralization in premature infants: a randomized controlled study. J Perinatol. 2008 Sep;28(9):624-31. doi: 10.1038/jp.2008.60. Epub 2008 Jul 17.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 18633420 (View on PubMed)

Litmanovitz I, Dolfin T, Friedland O, Arnon S, Regev R, Shainkin-Kestenbaum R, Lis M, Eliakim A. Early physical activity intervention prevents decrease of bone strength in very low birth weight infants. Pediatrics. 2003 Jul;112(1 Pt 1):15-9. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.1.15.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 12837861 (View on PubMed)

Litmanovitz I, Erez H, Eliakim A, Bauer-Rusek S, Arnon S, Regev RH, Sirota G, Nemet D. The Effect of Assisted Exercise Frequency on Bone Strength in Very Low Birth Weight Preterm Infants: A Randomized Control Trial. Calcif Tissue Int. 2016 Sep;99(3):237-42. doi: 10.1007/s00223-016-0145-3. Epub 2016 May 3.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 27142078 (View on PubMed)

Pereda L, Ashmeade T, Zaritt J, Carver JD. The use of quantitative ultrasound in assessing bone status in newborn preterm infants. J Perinatol. 2003 Dec;23(8):655-9. doi: 10.1038/sj.jp.7211006.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 14647163 (View on PubMed)

Basu M, Malhotra AS, Pal K, Chatterjee T, Ghosh D, Haldar K, Verma SK, Kumar S, Sharma YK, Sawhney RC. Determination of bone mass using multisite quantitative ultrasound and biochemical markers of bone turnover during residency at extreme altitude: a longitudinal study. High Alt Med Biol. 2013 Jun;14(2):150-4. doi: 10.1089/ham.2012.1042.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 23795735 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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AsanteHS

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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