The Use of an Age-linked App for Parents During and After a NICU Stay

East Limburg Hospital

Status: Unknown

Conditions: Premature Birth

Treatments: Other: Web Application

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03232190

B331201422729

Details and patient eligibility

About

The main purpose of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is to optimize the development of the newborn. Preterm children are at greater risk for developmental disorders. On the one hand, this is due to cerebral complications inherent to the prematurity, on the other hand it is related to the very early and therefore vulnerable stage of brain development at the time of the premature birth. The development of the child is also the result of a constant interaction between the infant and its environment, primarily the primary caregiver (i.e. the parents). A premature birth can cause great stress to parents, and there are several obstacles that can make it difficult to handle their child. Therefore, we have developed a web application that supports parents until their child reaches the age of two. By keeping them informed, we hope to make them more confident in their role as parents, and thus facilitate the parent-child interaction. In order to determine whether this form of support has an additional effect on the development of the premature child, we compare two groups of premature infants and a group of non-premature infants.

Enrollment: 180 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: Under 32 weeks old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Premature birth (< 32 weeks)

Exclusion criteria

• The lack of internet access or a personal email account
• Little or no knowledge of Dutch in both parents
• Children with a congenital disease

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Non-Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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180 participants in 3 patient groups

INTNIC

Experimental group

Description:

NICU Intervention Group Web Application Infants \< 32 weeks

Treatment:

Other: Web Application

CNIC

No Intervention group

Description:

NICU Control Group No Web Application Infants \< 32 weeks

CMAT

No Intervention group

Description:

Maternity Unit Control Group No Web Application Infants \> 37 weeks