Long-term outcomes of preterm infants admitted to single-family rooms versus an open-bay neonatal intensive care unit: A randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE

To compare long-term outcomes of preterm infants in single-family room (SFR) vs. open-bay (OB) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

STUDY

DESIGN

This randomized controlled trial took place in a tertiary NICU from April 2018 to June 2019. Infants <31 weeks gestation or ≤1500 grams birthweight were randomly assigned upon admission to SFR or OB. The primary outcome was death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI; cerebral palsy, language delay, cognitive delay, blindness, or deafness) at 36 months corrected age. Secondary outcomes were mortality, NDI components, and safety measures.

RESULTS

Of 85 infants (43 SFR, 42 OB), there was no difference in primary outcome (40.5% SFR vs. 47.4% OB, p = 0.644). Secondary outcomes did not differ except mortality, which was lower in SFR (1/41, 2.4%) than OB (8/42, 19.0%), p = 0.029.

CONCLUSIONS

Composite outcome of death/NDI at 36 months corrected age was similar; however, reduction in mortality was noted in SFR. This trial was registered 6 Mar 2019 with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03867669 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?cond=NCT03867669 ).