[Effect of oral motor intervention in improving brain function development in preterm infants: a randomized controlled trial].

OBJECTIVE

To study the effect of oral motor intervention (OMI) on brain function development in preterm infants.

METHODS

A total of 112 preterm infants were stratified into small-gestational-age (30-31 weeks) and large-gestational-age (32-33 weeks) according to gestational age at birth. The preterm infants were randomly divided into a control group and an intervention group, with 56 infants in each group. The infants in the control group were given routine treatment and nursing, while those in the intervention group were given OMI in addition to the treatment and nursing in the control group. Amplitude-integrated EEG (aEEG) and Neonatal Behavioral Neurological Assessment (NBNA) were performed on days 1, 7, and 14 of enrollment, and the level of brain function development was compared before and after intervention.

RESULTS

On day 7 of OMI, the small-gestational-age intervention group had lower upper bounds of voltage and bandwidth and a higher aEEG score than the small-gestational-age control group ( < 0.05). Compared with the small-gestational-age control group, the small-gestational-age intervention group had higher upper bound of voltage, percentage of mature sleep-wake cycle, aEEG score, and NBNA score and a lower narrow bandwidth on day 14 of OMI ( < 0.05). Compared with the large-gestational-age control group, the large-gestational-age intervention group had lower upper voltage and voltage difference and higher lower bound of voltage and aEEG score on days 7 and 14 of OMI ( < 0.05). On day 7 of OMI, the large-gestational-age intervention group had a higher NBNA score than the large-gestational-age control group ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

OMI can promote the maturation of aEEG background activities, improve neurobehavioral manifestations, and accelerate brain function development in preterm infants.