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Respiratory Development in Preterm Infants

Journal of Perinatology volume 24, pages 631–639 (2004)Cite this article

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study examined the development of respiration during the preterm and early post-term periods and the effects of other biological and environmental variables, including sleep state, on this development.

STUDY DESIGN: Weekly 2-hour sleep observations and respiration recordings were obtained on 134 preterm infants from the time they were no longer critical until hospital discharge; a follow-up observation was conducted 1 to 3 months later.

RESULTS: All respiratory variables, except length of respiratory pauses in quiet sleep, decreased although the rate of this decrease slowed after term for four variables. Respiratory variables, except variability of respiratory pauses lengths and periodic respiration, differed by sleep state. Covariates, except methylxanthine treatment, had minor effects. Four variables showed hospital-related differences, but cisapride treatment helped to explain the differences in three variables.

CONCLUSIONS: Much development of respiration occurs in the early weeks after birth and reflects both neural maturation and effects of other biological and environmental factors, especially medications.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Beth Black, Diane Hudson-Barr, Mary Barkey, Donna Harris, Tzu-Ying Lee, Leslie Miller, Jeanmarie Kanegan, Dawn Salerno, Tanya Kewson, Jason Dickenson, and Mark Johnson for technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Diane Holditch-Davis PhD, RN, FAAN

  2. Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine and Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital Cleveland, OH, USA

    Mark Scher MD

  3. Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Todd Schwartz MS

Authors
  1. Diane Holditch-Davis PhD, RN, FAAN
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  2. Mark Scher MD
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  3. Todd Schwartz MS
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Additional information

The preparation of this paper was supported by Grant NR01894 from the National Institute for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health.

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Holditch-Davis, D., Scher, M. & Schwartz, T. Respiratory Development in Preterm Infants. J Perinatol 24, 631–639 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.jp.7211150

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