A Novel Parent Education Program for Early Intervention

Not Applicable

Completed

Conditions: Full-term Infant
Preterm Infant

Registration Number: NCT04266717

Lead Sponsor: University of Delaware

Brief Summary: One in ten infants born in the USA is born preterm before 37 weeks of gestation and 50% of those will have motor and cognitive delays requiring intervention at school age. Because existing assessments do not reliably identify motor and cognitive delays early in development, many infants born preterm do not receive early intervention until they are older and their delays are more pronounced. This project aims to address the need for an effective, affordable, novel early intervention model for the first months of life for preterm infants.

Detailed Description: One in 10 children in the United States is born preterm and at risk for disabilities that can impair movement and cognition. Research suggests that targeted early intervention can effectively improve ability and function for these children. However, two key obstacles limit the provision of early intervention services in the first half-year of life. First, the existing diagnostic tools are limited in their ability to identify motor and cognitive delays at early ages. Second, in the medical model there is a lack of understanding of developmental science and how experiences in the first months of life can impact the development of future abilities. In effect, there has been lack of knowledge regarding who should receive early intervention services and what activities should be the focus of those services in infancy.

This project aims to address these challenges by testing the fidelity and short-term efficacy of a novel intervention providing education for parents of preterm infants. The intervention will educate parents on ways to handle, position, and play with their infants to provide infants safe opportunities to explore new ways of moving and controlling their bodies and interacting with objects. Intervention provision will be documented and outcomes will be compared for 20 infants randomized to receive one of two types of developmental education. Pre- and post-assessments will compare motor control in prone, reaching ability, daily positioning practices, and parent-child interactions with toys to determine if there are differences in the short-term effects of the intervention. Intervention will occur for two months with parents logging activity daily. Measures related to dosage and how parents perform the intervention activities will be gathered to assess fidelity of the intervention.

Aim 1: To measure aspects related to fidelity for families participating in the study.

Aim 2: To determine if there is a difference in developmental outcomes for children who receive the intervention.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status: COMPLETED

Sex: All

Target Recruitment: 20

Inclusion Criteria

Infant meeting the age criteria
Access to the internet
Residence within driving distance of the University of Delaware
Parental ability to read and communicate in English

Exclusion Criteria

Genetic diagnosis
Progressive diagnosis such as spinal muscular atrophy
Medical or movement restrictions that would interfere with participation in the study activities

Study & Design

Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL

Study Design: PARALLEL

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Alberta Infant Motor Scale - Change in Total Percentile Score	at baseline and 1 month later	We will assess infants using the AIMS, a valid and reliable developmental assessment for 0-18-month-olds. It consists of observation of weight bearing, posture, and antigravity movement in supine, prone, sitting, and standing subscales. Infants will receive scores for each subscale (secondary outcomes) that are summer for a total sum score that will be converted to percentile rank (ranging from 0-100). The change in percentile rank from baseline through 1 month will serve as the primary outcome measure for this study to compare the effects of the two interventions with a higher value representing a greater change and the sign representing the direction of change (i.e., positive means developmental performance improved). The AIMS will be used because the PI has shown it to be a sensitive measure of change for FT infants whose parents received handling and positioning education.

Secondary Outcome Measures