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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Developmental Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1289446
This article is part of the Research Topic Postnatal Brain Development in Moderate and Late Preterm Infants: Challenges and Context-relevant Interventions View all 8 articles

Cognitive and motor improvement by tummy time practice in preemies from lowincome settings: a randomized clinical trial

Provisionally accepted
Sabrinne Sampaio Sabrinne Sampaio 1Nathalia Rodrigues Nathalia Rodrigues 1Thalyson Souza Thalyson Souza 1Julia Moura Julia Moura 2Ingrid Azevedo Ingrid Azevedo 3Carolina Lima-Alvarez Carolina Lima-Alvarez 1Silvana A. Pereira Silvana A. Pereira 1*
  • 1 Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
  • 2 University of Brasilia, Brasilia, Distrito Federal, Brazil
  • 3 Temuco Catholic University, Temuco, Araucania, Chile

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Early intervention and parental education for preemies are limited in some low-income countries. Thus, this study aimed to assess whether daily tummy time (TT) associated with usual care (UC) enhances motor and cognitive development in preemies from low-income countries. The main and secondary aim was to assess prone head elevation (PHE) and motor and cognitive functions, respectively. Thirty-one preemies with a mean gestational age at birth of 33.3 ± 1.6 weeks and weighing < 2,500 g were included and 18 completed all assessments. Parents from the TT group were asked to perform TT with their preemies for at least 20 minutes during daily activities and playtime. Motor and cognitive functions were assessed by a blinded examiner using the motor and cognitive composite scores of Bayley-III after two and four months of corrected age. PHE was given by the angle from the tragus of the ear to the supporting surface of the infant; measurements were obtained using the Kinovea® software at baseline, after two, three, and four months of corrected age. The Bayley-III motor composite score of the TT group was higher than the UC group after two and four months of corrected age. The PHE angle increased over time but did not differ between groups. Nevertheless, TT expanded the perspective of preemies to explore their bodies and environment, favoring the stimuli for motor and cognitive patterns. The loss of participants (31%) was one of the limitations of the study, illustrating the challenge of providing continued early interventions to preemies from low-income countries. In this sense, TT practice is a home intervention that may improve motor and cognitive function of preemies immediately after hospital discharge.

    Keywords: motor skill, Premature Birth, Tummy time, Prone Position, Infant Development, Low-income countries, intervention

    Received: 05 Sep 2023; Accepted: 06 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Sampaio, Rodrigues, Souza, Moura, Azevedo, Lima-Alvarez and Pereira. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Silvana A. Pereira, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, 84030-900, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil

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