Occupational therapy, physical therapy and speech-language pathology in the neonatal intensive care unit: Patterns of therapy usage in a level IV NICU

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ridd.2017.03.009
• Publication Date: 2017-04-03T18:01:54Z
• Authors: Katherine Ross; Elizabeth Heiny; Sandra Conner; Patricia Spener; Roberta Pineda
• Keywords: Male; Speech-Language Pathology; Infant, Newborn; Gestational Age; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; Child Development; Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; 0302 clinical medicine; Occupational Therapy; Early Medical Intervention; Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; 8. Economic growth; Humans; Infant, Very Low Birth Weight; Female; Infant, Premature; Physical Therapy Modalities

1) To describe the use of occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT) and speech-language pathology (SLP) services in a level IV neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), 2) to describe predictors of early therapy usage, and 3) to test the hypothesis that more NICU-based therapy will relate to better neurobehavioral outcomes.Seventy-nine infants born ≤32 weeks gestation had therapy interventions, as standard of care, tracked across NICU hospitalization. Infants received neurobehavioral testing prior to NICU discharge.All (100%) received OT and PT, and 41 (51%) received SLP. The average age at initiation of OT, PT, and SLP was 30.4±1.4, 30.3±1.4, and 35.9±2.3 weeks postmenstrual age, respectively. Infants received therapy an average of 1.8±.4, 1.8±.4 and 1.1±.5 times per week for OT, PT and SLP, respectively. There were 56 different therapeutic interventions performed. There was overlap in the interventions provided by different NICU therapists; however, interventions unique to each discipline were identified. More therapy was not related to better neurobehavioral outcomes, but rather more frequent therapy could be attributed to more complex medical conditions (p<0.05).Early therapy services in the NICU can start early in gestation and continue routinely until NICU discharge in order to optimize outcomes. These findings can aid our understanding of how neonatal therapy services are implemented in a level IV NICU.