A randomized clinical trial to assess the effectiveness of prone position on cardiorespiratory outcomes among infants with respiratory distress

Abstract

Aims: The aim of this study was to assess for and compare the effect of prone and supine position on cardiorespiratory outcome among infants with respiratory distress (RD) and to screen any complications during positioning. Settings and Design: Quantitative experimental research approach was adopted for the study. It was a randomized clinical trial with parallel group design conducted in pediatric unit of St. Stephen's Hospital, Delhi. Methods: The population comprised infants with RD having a score of 3–7 Downes score system scale admitted in pediatric unit. Participants were randomized and treatment allocation by permuted block design. No blinding was done. Pre- and post-intervention cardiorespiratory outcomes (heart rate [HR], respiratory rate [RR], oxygen saturation level (SpO2), and RD) were assessed. Statistical Analysis Used: SPSS version 20 was used for our analysis. Descriptive and inferential statistics was used for the analysis. Results: Total sample size included 60 infants with RD, 30 in each group (prone and supine position). The analysis showed that both intervention group had led to an improvement in HR, RR, SpO2, and RD with both group, but the effectiveness was more among the infants receiving prone position as evidenced by the pre- and post-intervention mean changes for all the variables (HR, RR, SpO2, and RD). Conclusions: The present study revealed that the introduction of prone position leads to an improvement in HR, RR, SpO2, and RD among infants with RD, without any complications such as apnoea or vomiting as compared to supine position.