Early progressive mobility to improve neurodevelopment of infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia at a level IV neonatal intensive care unit: a prospective cohort study

Abstract

Objective: To measure the feasibility of early progressive mobility (EPM) in intubated infants with severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and compare neurodevelopmental skill acquisition of these infants before and after implementation of a clinical EPM program. Study design: Single-center pre-post intervention prospective cohort study in a level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) from 2019–2022. Bivariate tests compared EPM interventions and results of serial Test of Infant Motor Performance (TIMP) assessments in 32 intubated infants with severe BPD cared for during two epochs, before and after NICU-wide EPM implementation. Results: Infants in epoch 2 experienced significantly more EPM interventions than infants in epoch 1. Infants in epoch 2 also had more advanced motor skills on the TIMP than infants in epoch 1. There were no unplanned extubations. Conclusions: We demonstrated successful implementation of EPM in this high-risk population with evidence of beneficial impacts on early motor development.