ISSN:
1552-6909
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Objective: To determine the safety and feasibility of kangaroo care in a tertiary-level nursery as defined by apnea, bradycardia, and oxygen desaturation.Design: Prospective, long-term, repeated measures with a convenience sample.Setting: A 20-bed, tertiary-level nursery with approximately 400 admissions a year.Participants: Eight mother-infant pairs.Interventions: Researchers compared incubator care with kangaroo care for 4 hours a day, 6 days a week, for 3 weeks. Physiologic variables were monitored daily and recorded continuously on a polygraph for 8 hours each week.Main outcome measures: Amount of apnea, bradycardia, and oxygen desaturation.Secondary outcome measures: Heart rate, respiratory rate, percent sleep time, and skin temperature.Results: Apnea, bradycardia, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and respiratory rate were similar during both kangaroo (K) and incubator (I) care. The infants experienced a lower percent (mean ± standard deviation, K versus I) of total sleep (47 ± 5 versus 64 ± 19, p 〈 .003) during kangaroo care. The infants' mean ± standard deviation temperature during the kangaroo care (36.5°C ± 0.64°C) was lower (p 〈 .03) than that of the control periods before (363°C 0.27°C) or after (36.7°C ± 0.26°c). Percent sleep time and skin temperature were slightly lower during kangaroo care, but the differences were not clinically significant.Conclusion: Kangaroo care is safe and feasible for selected mothers and infants in a tertiary-level nursery.Apnea, bradycardia, oxygen saturation, heart rate, and respiratory rate were similar during both kangaroo and incubator care. The infants in the study slept less during kangaroo care, but there were no differences in the percent of quiet sleep. Infants' mean temperatures during kangaroo care were lower than they were in the before and after control periods, but they were within normal limits. These differences were not thought to be clinically significant.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1552-6909.1995.tb02466.x
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