OA11.04
Purpose: Pain is a frequent problem in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), with infants receiving an average of up to twelve painful procedures daily. While many studies have examined the effects of massage therapy on pain-related outcomes in neonates, few have examined other integrative care therapies, and even fewer have included objective, physiological outcomes. The purpose of the current observational study was to examine the associations between integrative care therapies and physiological and therapist-reported pain and presentation outcomes among hospitalized neonates.
Methods: We conducted a retrospective review of a clinical database obtained in a naturalistic, practice-based study of integrative care therapies at a large, Midwestern pediatric hospital. Before and after delivering integrative care therapies, therapists rated neonates' pain and presentation levels. Neonates' heart rate and oxygen saturation were recorded pre-post therapy. Paired-samples t-tests were used to examine the associations between integrative care therapies, pain and presentation ratings, and neonates' heart rate and oxygen saturation.
Results: Of 186 participants (Mage=68 days), 58% were male (N=108) and 67% were Caucasian (N=125). Fifty-seven percent (N=106) received massage and healing touch, and 12% received some other therapy combination. The remainder received a single therapy, mostly massage (N=42) or healing touch (N=12). From pre-post intervention, neonates' heart rate significantly decreased (M=156 vs. M=140 per min; t(159)=16.6, p<.001) and oxygen saturation significantly increased (M=95.0% vs. M=97.4%, t(160)=−10.4, p<.001). Therapist-reported pain (M=2.8 vs. M=0.2; t(170)=11.9, p<.001) and presentation ratings (M=3.2 vs. M=1.0; t(72)=14.5, p<.001) significantly decreased pre-post intervention.
Conclusion: Delivery of integrative care therapies in the NICU was associated with improvements in pain, presentation, heart rate, and oxygen saturation among hospitalized neonates. Limitations withstanding, these preliminary results suggest that integrative care therapies may be a useful adjunct to pain and overall management in the NICU. Further controlled research including an active control group is warranted.
Contact: Elizabeth Hathaway, hathawee@mail.uc.edu
