Abstract：
BACKGROUND: It remains a matter of debate as to what extent early intervention may facilitate long-term functional outcomes of preterm infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). We aimed to examine the effect of increasing physical therapy (PT) staff dedicated to the NICU on temporal changes (initiation, duration) of PT interventions and functional outcomes (acquisition of full oral feeding and Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination).
METHODS: Extremely low birth weight infants, retrospectively collected from an academic medical center, were allocated to two subgroups, either a baseline period (N = 48) without NICU-dedicated PT staff (non-dedicated group) or a quality improvement period (N = 42) with additional dedicated staff (dedicated group).
RESULTS: Compared to those in the non-dedicated group, NICU infants in the dedicated group started PT earlier and had increased PT treatment for additional 14 min per day when achieving full oral feeding. The infants in the dedicated group significantly achieved full oral feeding earlier than the non-dedicated group. As for Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination, there were significant differences in two items (total and tone) between the groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Additional NICU-dedicated PT staff facilitated earlier intervention and increased PT treatment in terms of daily duration. Moreover, the dedication shortened the completion of full oral feeding and improved neurological development, presumably resulting in better developmental outcome.
METHODS: Extremely low birth weight infants, retrospectively collected from an academic medical center, were allocated to two subgroups, either a baseline period (N = 48) without NICU-dedicated PT staff (non-dedicated group) or a quality improvement period (N = 42) with additional dedicated staff (dedicated group).
RESULTS: Compared to those in the non-dedicated group, NICU infants in the dedicated group started PT earlier and had increased PT treatment for additional 14 min per day when achieving full oral feeding. The infants in the dedicated group significantly achieved full oral feeding earlier than the non-dedicated group. As for Hammersmith Neonatal Neurological Examination, there were significant differences in two items (total and tone) between the groups.
CONCLUSIONS: Additional NICU-dedicated PT staff facilitated earlier intervention and increased PT treatment in terms of daily duration. Moreover, the dedication shortened the completion of full oral feeding and improved neurological development, presumably resulting in better developmental outcome.
摘要：
背景：在新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）中，早期干预在多大程度上可以促进早产儿的长期功能结局仍存在争议。我们旨在研究增加致力于NICU的物理治疗（PT）工作人员对时间变化的影响（开始，持续时间）PT干预和功能结局（获得完全口服喂养和Hammersmith新生儿神经系统检查）。
方法：极低出生体重儿，回顾性地从学术医疗中心收集，被分配到两个子组，基线期(N=48)无NICU专用PT人员(非专用组)或质量改善期(N=42)有额外的专用人员(专用组).
结果：与非专用组相比，专用组中的NICU婴儿较早开始PT，并且在实现完全口服喂养时每天增加14分钟的PT治疗。专用组的婴儿比非专用组明显更早地实现了完全口服喂养。至于Hammersmith新生儿神经检查,两组之间的两项（总和音调）存在显着差异。
结论：额外的NICU专用PT工作人员促进了早期干预，并增加了每日持续时间的PT治疗。此外，这种奉献精神缩短了完全口服喂养的完成时间，并改善了神经系统发育，可能会导致更好的发展结果。
方法：极低出生体重儿，回顾性地从学术医疗中心收集，被分配到两个子组，基线期(N=48)无NICU专用PT人员(非专用组)或质量改善期(N=42)有额外的专用人员(专用组).
结果：与非专用组相比，专用组中的NICU婴儿较早开始PT，并且在实现完全口服喂养时每天增加14分钟的PT治疗。专用组的婴儿比非专用组明显更早地实现了完全口服喂养。至于Hammersmith新生儿神经检查,两组之间的两项（总和音调）存在显着差异。
结论：额外的NICU专用PT工作人员促进了早期干预，并增加了每日持续时间的PT治疗。此外，这种奉献精神缩短了完全口服喂养的完成时间，并改善了神经系统发育，可能会导致更好的发展结果。
