Single-Family Rooms May Benefit Very Preterm Infants

TUESDAY, Jan. 8, 2019 (HealthDay News) — For extremely preterm infants, the use of single-family rooms is associated with reduced sepsis incidence and improvements in breastfeeding rates during hospital stays but with no difference in long-term neurodevelopment, according to a review published online Jan. 7 in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health.

Nicole R. van Veenendaal, M.D., from OLVG in Amsterdam, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies that compared outcomes of extremely preterm infants (<28 weeks of gestation) hospitalized in single-family rooms versus common open bay units.

Based on the 13 studies included in the analysis (4,793 participants), the researchers found no differences in cognitive neurodevelopment using the Bayley Scales of Infant and Toddler Development-III at 18 to 24 months of corrected age. However, in single-family rooms, the incidence of sepsis was lower (4,165 infants; risk ratio [RR], 0.63) and exclusive breastfeeding at discharge was higher (484 infants; RR, 1.31) versus open bay units. There was no difference in hospital stay, growth, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, intraventricular hemorrhage, retinopathy of prematurity, or mortality.

“To establish whether single rooms have an impact on long-term neurodevelopment we also need well-designed studies to examine the vast majority of preterm infants who are born after 32 weeks gestation, in whom no follow-up studies have been done,” a coauthor said in a statement.

Three authors disclosed financial ties to Nutricia.

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