The CareToy System (CT) is a new technological tool for intensive, individualized, home‐based and family‐centered early intervention, based on the concepts of enriched environment and goal directed training. The aim of the CareToy project is to provide evidence that CT training, compared to standard care (SC), may promote neurodevelopment (e.g. motor, perceptual and cognitive) in low‐risk preterm infants. An RCT with CareToy is ongoing (ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT01990183; Sgandurra et al, BMC Pediatrics 2014), preceded by a pilot study from which preliminary data on visual development are available. 20 preterm infants (gestational age: 29–32+6 weeks, mean age 3.91±1mo of corrected age) were recruited in the pilot study and randomized in two groups: CT training and SC. The infants randomized in the CT group performed 4 weeks of CT training for a mean time of 7.57±4.30 hours. Teller Acuity Cards, chosen as one of the outcome measures, were carried out at baseline (T0) and at the end of CT training or SC period (T1, primary endpoint) by scorers blind to the infant's allocation. A significant (p<.05) improvement of visual acuity in the CT group versus SC (delta changes 2.17±1.72 v 0.73±0.66 cy/degree, respectively) was found. These data are promising and in line with previous reports of the effect of enriched environment on early visual development in infants (Guzzetta et al. J Neurosci 2009; Purpura et al. EHD 2014). Confirmation by the ongoing RCT in a larger group of infants is necessary.
Early intervention by CareToy in preterm infants: preliminary findings of effects on visual development
Sgandurra G.;Giampietri M.;Cioni G.
2015-01-01
Abstract
The CareToy System (CT) is a new technological tool for intensive, individualized, home‐based and family‐centered early intervention, based on the concepts of enriched environment and goal directed training. The aim of the CareToy project is to provide evidence that CT training, compared to standard care (SC), may promote neurodevelopment (e.g. motor, perceptual and cognitive) in low‐risk preterm infants. An RCT with CareToy is ongoing (ClinicalTrials.gov:NCT01990183; Sgandurra et al, BMC Pediatrics 2014), preceded by a pilot study from which preliminary data on visual development are available. 20 preterm infants (gestational age: 29–32+6 weeks, mean age 3.91±1mo of corrected age) were recruited in the pilot study and randomized in two groups: CT training and SC. The infants randomized in the CT group performed 4 weeks of CT training for a mean time of 7.57±4.30 hours. Teller Acuity Cards, chosen as one of the outcome measures, were carried out at baseline (T0) and at the end of CT training or SC period (T1, primary endpoint) by scorers blind to the infant's allocation. A significant (p<.05) improvement of visual acuity in the CT group versus SC (delta changes 2.17±1.72 v 0.73±0.66 cy/degree, respectively) was found. These data are promising and in line with previous reports of the effect of enriched environment on early visual development in infants (Guzzetta et al. J Neurosci 2009; Purpura et al. EHD 2014). Confirmation by the ongoing RCT in a larger group of infants is necessary.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
