The Sensory Profile in Newborns with a History of Premature Birth and Hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

The study was designed to determine influential factors of sensory processing patterns and describe the pattern in neonates from birth to 6-month-old with premature birth.

In a cross-sectional study in 2021, 79 neonates from birth to 6 months (corrected age) who were hospitalized for a few days to 1 month, were recruited by the simple sampling method. Their sensory processing patterns were evaluated by sensory profile2-birth-to 6 months with 6 sub-scales of general, auditory, visual, and tactile, movement; and oral processing in 25 questions. The validity and reliability of the sensory profile were (0.95) and (0.72-0.95).

The Mean of the total score (52.6 ± 19.08) showed that the sensory processing pattern of 54.4% of participants was abnormal. There was a significant relationship between sensory processing and sensory pattern with gestational age, birth weight, chronological, age, and the time of stay in the care unit. Tactile processing, pattern was significantly different between neonates, according to the time of hospitalization less than 1 week and more than 2 weeks. There are no significant differences between sensory processing patterns and gender, gestational age, and birth weight. The mean of Auditory, tactile and oral processing was different between the 2 groups of infants; less than 1-month chronological age and more than 1-month age. The total score of sensory profiles showed significant differences between infants with gestational age less than 32 weeks and more than 32 weeks.

The length of stay Infants was exposed to disadvantageous sensory stimulation for a long time which contribute to early development.