Impact of a family‐centred clinical care programme on short‐term outcomes of very low‐birth weight infants

Abstract

AbstractAimWe evaluated the effects of a family‐centred clinical care pathway and case management programme on short‐term clinical outcome in a cohort of very low‐birth weight (VLBW) infants.MethodsThe programme, named NeoPAss, was developed at the Department of Neonatology Children's hospital Passau in 2013. Short‐term outcomes of infants were compared to matched controls from the Bavarian neonatology surveillance database before (n = 111; 2008–2012) and after implementation (n = 170; 2014–2017).ResultsAfter implementation the rate of late‐onset sepsis was significantly lower (2.5% vs. 10.7%, p = 0.005) and the length of stay was significantly shorter (VLBW 28 to 31 weeks' gestational age (GA) 47.5 vs. 53.1 days, p = 0.047; <28 weeks' GA 79.4 vs. 91.9 days, p = 0.007) in the intervention group compared to controls. Infants were discharged with significantly lower weight (mean 2351 vs. 2539 g, p = 0.013). There was no statistically significant difference in the rate of intraventricular haemorrhage (3.7% vs. 8.2%), necrotizing enterocolitis (0.6% vs. 1.9%) and bronchopulmonary dysplasia (0% vs. 6.9%).ConclusionOur data confirm that of other studies demonstrating a beneficial effect of family‐centred care programmes and provides evidence that structured parental involvement is not associated with increased risk of infection in a VLBW cohort.