This study aimed to investigate the effect of ASI intervention on the development of premature
infants with ELBW to VLBW, within the first 12 months. ASI intervention approach is from the
sensory integration theoretical and practice frame of reference used in occupational therapy. ASI
provides playful meaningful activities aimed at enhancing sensory processing abilities of the brain
and ultimately lead to appropriate adaptive functioning in daily life.
From the literature review it was evident that newborn premature infants are at risk for possible
SI difficulties and developmental delays due to their immature CNS and possible times of medical
instability, discomfort, pain and stress during the first weeks or months after birth. Research on
effective developmental intervention strategies for premature infants is however limited and
previous research related to ASI intervention on the development of the premature infant post
discharge from the NICU could not be found by the researcher. Since SI forms the underlying
foundation for learning and social behavior (Ayers, 2008:7), research in this field is essential for
prevention of developmental delays and learning difficulties of premature infants.
The research proposal for this study was approved by the Ethics Committee, Faculty of Health
Sciences of the University of the Free State (ECUFS no. 117/2011). Permission was obtained from
appropriate authorities to conduct the study at the Occupational Therapy Department of
Universitas Academic Hospital. A pilot study was done to determine the feasibility of the study.
A quantitative research approach was used to determine the effect of ASI intervention on the
development of the ELBW to VLBW premature infant. Through a pre-test/post-test experimental
design, the population of 24 premature infants was randomly divided into an experimental and control group with 12 infants in each group respectively. Infants were matched according to their
corrected ages and gender. Participants had corrected ages between four and 10 months, VLBW
to ELBW, adhered to the inclusion criteria for the study and were referred from the High-Risk
Infant Clinic at Universitas Academic Hospital.
The developmental status of participants was determined with the Bayley III Scales of Infant and
Toddler Development (Bayley, 2006a), Test of Sensory Function in Infants (TSFI) (DeGangi &
Greenspan, 1989) and Infant /Toddler Sensory Profile (Dunn, 2002) before and after a 10 week
ASI intervention period with infants in the experimental group. The results of the Fidelity Measure
indicated that the interventions sessions complied with the requirements for ASI intervention.
The pre- and post-test results were analyzed, interpreted and compared. The anthropometric and
demographic profiles of the infants in both groups indicated that there was no statistical
difference between the two groups except for the time hospitalized which was in favour of the
control group and therefore the researcher was able to make reliable conclusions in terms of the
study results.
This study has found that ASI intervention had a positive effect on the sensory processing and
developmental progress of ELBW to VLBW premature infants especially in terms of cognitive-,
language-, motor- and adaptive behaviour development within a short period of 10 weeks.
Parents showed more interest and a better understanding of the developmental progress and
sensory processing of their infants. This study has therefore provided sufficient evidence that
early intervention in terms of ASI plays a critical role in the intervention approach of the sensory
integration trained occupational therapists, working with premature infants and their parents.
The study results did not only indicate the importance of ASI intervention for better
developmental outcomes for ELBW to VLBW premature infants, but also revealed that a lack of
ASI intervention leads to a deterioration of developmental and behavioural outcomes.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ufs/oai:etd.uovs.ac.za:etd-02052013-110307 |
| Date | 05 February 2013 |
| Creators | Lecuona, Elise R |
| Contributors | Dr J Raubenheimer, Dr SM van Heerden, Ms A van Jaarsveld |
| Publisher | University of the Free State |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en-uk |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.uovs.ac.za//theses/available/etd-02052013-110307/restricted/ |
| Rights | unrestricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University Free State or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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