ArticleNursing research
Pilot Study of Absolute Telomere Lengths in Preterm Infants.
Article in Nursing research. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Validity and use of the Neonatal Infant Stressor Scale: An integrative review.Early human development · 2024Review
- Telomere dysfunction in some pediatric congenital and growth-related diseases.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2023Review
- Association of early and current life factors with telomere length in preterm-born children.PloS one · 2023Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAnnually, approximately 15 million babies are born preterm (<37 weeks gestational age) globally. In the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) environment, infants are exposed to repeated stressful or painful procedures as part of routine lifesaving care. These procedures have been associated with epigenetic alterations that may lead to an increased risk of neurodevelopmental disorders. Telomere length has been negatively associated with adverse life experiences in studies of adults.
objectivesThis pilot study aimed to describe telomere length in a sample of preterm infants at NICU discharge and examine any associations with pain, feeding method, and neurodevelopment.
methodsThis descriptive pilot study sample includes baseline absolute telomere length (aTL) of 36 preterm infants immediately prior to discharge. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to determine aTL. Infant demographics, pain/stress, type of feeding, antibiotic use, neurodevelopment, and buccal swab data were collected. Descriptive data analysis was used to describe the telomere length using graphs.
resultsAmong our preterm infant samples, the mean aTL was far greater than the average adult telomere length. Although no significant associations were found between aTL and pain, feeding method, and neurodevelopment, a trend between sex was noted where male telomere lengths were shorter than females as they aged. DISCUSSION: This is one of few studies to evaluate preterm infant telomere length. Although other researchers have used relative telomere length, we used the more accurate aTL. We found nonsignificant shorter telomere lengths among males. Additional large-scale, longitudinal studies are needed to better identify the predictors of telomere length at the time of discharge from NICU.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.