The Effect of Educational-Supportive Interventions on Distress Tolerance of Parents of Premature Infants in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Parents of premature infants are more likely to be exposed to stressful situations than parents of term infants. This study aimed to determine the effect of educational-supportive interventions on the tolerance of parents of premature infants admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

In this quasi-experimental study, the participants included 50 parents of premature infants admitted to one of the NICUs in Shiraz, Iran from October 2019 to May 2020. Parents were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. Educational intervention (training package and its content) was done in five 45-minute sessions for two weeks and three times a week. The supportive care was provided one day after the intervention. The data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and Distress Tolerance Scale and analyzed by SPSS 24 using paired t-test, independent t-test, and chi-square test.

The mean scores of the mothers' and fathers’ distress tolerance in the pre-intervention stage were 36.0 ± 6.1, 33.9 ± 7.4 in the control group (P < 0.14), and 38.4 ± 5.8, 38.0 ± 5.9 in the experimental group (P < 0.001), respectively. After the intervention, the mean scores of the mothers’ and fathers’ distress tolerance in the control group were 35.9 ± 5.3 and 36.5 ± 6.3, and in the experimental group 54.7 ± 5.3, 53.0 ± 6.0, which compared to before the intervention showed a significant increase (P < 0.001).

Supportive-educational programs can increase distress tolerance in parents of premature infants. In the future, these programs can be planned to promote the quality of infant care.