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Effect of delivery room temperature on the admission temperature of premature infants: a randomized controlled trial

Journal of Perinatology volume 33, pages 264–267 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Objective:

To determine if increasing delivery room temperature to that recommended by the World Health Organization results in increased admission temperatures of preterm infants.

Study Design:

Admission rectal temperatures of newborns ⩽32 weeks gestation delivered in rooms with temperature set at 24 to 26 °C were compared with those of similar newborns delivered in rooms with temperature set at 20 to 23 °C.

Result:

Premature newborns delivered in rooms with mean temperature 25.1±0.6 °C (n=43), compared with those delivered in rooms with mean temperature 22.5±0.6 °C (n=48), had a lower incidence (34.9% vs 68.8%, P<0.01) of admission rectal temperature <36 °C and higher admission rectal temperatures (36.0±0.9 °C vs 35.5±0.8 °C, P<0.01). This difference persisted after adjustment for birth weight and 5 min Apgar score.

Conclusion:

Increasing delivery room temperatures to that recommended by the World Health Organization decreases cold stress in premature newborns.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the staff of the Obstetrical and Neonatal Departments of the Second Affiliated Hospital and Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College for their invaluable cooperation in this study and Dr Ian Holzman for advice and critical review of the manuscript.

Author contributions

The results of this study were presented, in part, at the annual Pediatric Academic Society meeting in Boston, 28 April to 2 May 2012. This study was supported by a research grant from the Neonatal Resuscitation Program of American Academy of Pediatrics and a grant from Wenzhou City Bureau of Science and Technology, China (H20090074). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. All listed authors are fully involved in the preparation of this manuscript and have approved this final version.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neonatology, Yuying Children’s Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China

    Y-S Jia, Z-L Lin & J Lin

  2. Department of Nursing, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical College, Wenzhou, China

    Y-S Jia, H Lv & Y-M Li

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA

    R Green & J Lin

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  1. Y-S Jia
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Correspondence to Z-L Lin or J Lin.

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Jia, YS., Lin, ZL., Lv, H. et al. Effect of delivery room temperature on the admission temperature of premature infants: a randomized controlled trial. J Perinatol 33, 264–267 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jp.2012.100

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