SynthesisBMC pediatrics2020
Do NICU developmental care improve cognitive and motor outcomes for preterm infants? A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in BMC pediatrics, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 50 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Indicators of maternal anxiety, stress, and depression and developmental outcomes in preterm children: A systematic review.Infant mental health journal · 2026Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of High-Dose Erythropoietin Combined with Hypothermia Therapy in Neonatal Hypoxic-Ischemic Encephalopathy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Molecular biotechnology · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Effectiveness of interventions on early neurodevelopment of preterm infants: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC pediatrics · 2021Pooled it
- Trial
- Parent-Guided Developmental Intervention for Infants With Very Low Birth Weight: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2024Trial
- Neurodevelopmental care across pediatric critical care settings: toward brain-focused critical care.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Review
- A multimodal vision dataset for nursing action recognition and quality assessment in NICU.Scientific data · 2026Article
- The origins of embodiment: behavioral and cardiovascular responses to music in very preterm newborns.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Care Across Contexts: Patterns of Caregiver-Infant Engagement in Spanish- and English-Speaking Families of Preterm Infants.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Application of Umbilical Cord Blood for the Clinical Prevention and Treatment of Complications in Preterm Infants(Review).Stem cell reviews and reports · 2026Review
- Implementation of developmental care in routine NICU practice and early clinical outcomes in preterm infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- A Family-Centered Neurodevelopmental Care Framework for Post-neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Preterm Infants: Delphi Study.Iranian journal of child neurology · 2026Article
- Practices and challenges of family involvement in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) across Asia: a multinational survey of the Asian neonatal network.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Music-based research in neonatal intensive care units requires guidelines grounded in developmental neurology and responsive to the individual needs of preterm infants.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Does Infant Temperament Moderate the Relationship between Very Low Birth Weight and Behavioral Problems Over Six years?Child psychiatry and human development · 2025Article
- Family-Centered Rehabilitation and Parenting Resilience in the Care of an Infant Born at 22 Weeks: A Case Study.Cureus · 2025Article
- Article
- Developmental-Centered Care in Preterm Newborns: Scoping Review.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Cognitive Competences in Preterm Infants across the First Year of Life: Assessments of Continuity, Stability, Coherence, Prediction, and Moderation by Infant Age and Country of Origin.International journal of behavioral development · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe aim of this study was to review the effects of developmental care in neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) setting on mental and motor development of preterm infants.
methodWe searched PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, Scopus, Web of Science and Cochrane library until October 8th 2017, and included randomized controlled trials that assessed effects of developmental care in NICU on mental and motor development of preterm infants at 12 and 24 months of age, using the Bayley scale of infant development in this systematic review. In addition, data were pooled by random effects model and Standardized Mean Difference (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), calculated for meta-analysis.
resultsTwenty one studies were eligible to be included in this systematic review; however, only thirteen studies had data suitable for meta-analysis. According to statistical analysis, developmental care in NICU improved mental developmental index (MDI) (standardized mean difference [SMD] 0.55, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.23-0.87; p < 0.05), and psychomotor developmental index (PDI) (SMD 0.33, [CI] 95% CI 0.08-0.57; p < 0.05) of BSID at 12 months of age and PDI at 24 months of age (SMD 0.15, 95% CI -0.02-0.32; p < 0.1) of preterm infants. However, the benefit was not detected at 24 months of age on MDI (SMD 0.15, 95% CI -0.05-0.35; p = 0.15).
conclusionCurrent evidence suggests that developmental care in only NICU setting could have significant effect on mental and motor development of preterm infants, especially at 12 months of age. However, because of clinical heterogeneity, more studies are needed to evaluate the effects of developmental NICU care in the development of preterm infants.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.