Abstract
Objective The main objective of this article is to define perceptions of health care professionals
regarding current use of sensory-based interventions in the neonatal intensive care
unit (NICU).
Study Design A multidisciplinary group of NICU health care professionals (n = 108) defined the types of sensory-based interventions used in their NICU, the postmenstrual
age (PMA) sensory-based interventions are administered, conditions under which sensory-based
interventions are used, and personnel who administer sensory-based interventions.
Results The most commonly reported tactile intervention was infant holding (88% of respondents),
the most common auditory intervention was recorded music/singing (69% of respondents),
the most common kinesthetic intervention was occupational and physical therapy (85%
of respondents), and the most common vestibular intervention was infant swings (86%
of respondents). Tactile interventions were initiated most often at 24 to 26 weeks
PMA (74% of respondents), auditory interventions at 30 to 32 weeks (60% of respondents),
kinesthetic interventions at 30 to 32 weeks (76% of respondents), vestibular interventions
at 33 to 34 weeks (86% of respondents), and visual interventions at 32 to 36 weeks
(72% of respondents). Conditions under which sensory-based interventions were administered,
and personnel who provided them, varied across settings.
Conclusion Varied use of sensory-based interventions in the NICU were reported. While this study
was limited by biased sampling and the identification of health care professionals'
perceptions but not real-world practice, this information can be used to build a comprehensive
approach to positive sensory exposures in the NICU.
Keywords
tactile - auditory - engagement - multimodal - stimulation - therapy - outcomes -
development - preterm
