Do former preterm infants remember and respond to neonatal intensive Care unit noise?

Publication Date

2006

Selected Works Department

Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

Document Type

Article

Abstract

Background Previous studies have shown that 4-month-old infants have a decrease in heart rate, a component of the orienting reflex, in response to interesting auditory stimuli and an increase in heart rate to aversive auditory stimuli. Objective To compare the heart rate responses of former preterm and term infants at 4–5 months corrected age to a recording of NICU noises. Methods 13 former preterm infants and 17 full-term infants were presented NICU noise and another noise of similar level and frequency content in random order. Heart rate 10 s prior to the stimulus and for 20 s during the stimulus was analyzed. Group differences in second by second heart rate changes in response to the two noise stimuli were compared by analysis of covariance. Results Both the preterm and term newborns responded similarly to the NICU noise and the control noise. The preterm infants did not alter their heart rate in response to either stimulus. In contrast, the term infants displayed an orienting response to the second stimulus presented regardless of whether it was the NICU or control noise. Conclusions Former preterm infants at 4–5 months corrected age have reduced responsiveness to auditory stimulation in comparison to 4- to 5-month-old term infants. Furthermore, they did not respond to the NICU noise as an aversive stimulus.

File Name

Gray009

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS