Abstract
Background: The neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) was primarily developed to aid in the assessment of full-term neonates. The aim of this study was to detect if the NBAS was also valuable in the assessment of preterm neonates. Materials and Methods: We assessed 112 infants at a neonatal unit using the NBAS, 4th edition. The inclusion criteria included an oxygen saturation level between 88–95% and a heartrate of 100–205 beats per minute. Infant neurobehavior was assessed using the NBAS. Results: For full-term and preterm neonates, we observed that the NBAS enabled us to assess both groups of infants and gave relevant information pertaining to them. We found a significant correlation between the average week of gestation and response to touch, sensory input, peak of excitement, cost of attention, hand-to-mouth, and quality of alertness. Conclusions: The NBAS is a valuable scale for evaluating the neurobehavior of preterm neonates. The week of gestation at birth affects certain aspects of neurobehavior, such as response to sensory input, putting hand to mouth, peak of excitement, and cost of attention. The NBAS as an individually structured assessment may help in planning for early rehabilitation and intervention for this vulnerable population.
Highlights
The assessment of the neurobehavior of a neonate helps guide a practitioner in developing appropriate treatment and intervention
The aim of this study was to determine the areas of the neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) that may be different between these two groups in reference to week of gestation, as well as items that may be demanding to assess for preterm neonates
We took into consideration whether or not neonates who were born before 37 weeks of gestation were more difficult to assess compared to full-term infants or if any item was not possible to perform with them for the purposes of the NBAS
Summary
The assessment of the neurobehavior of a neonate helps guide a practitioner in developing appropriate treatment and intervention. An assessment should provide objective knowledge of an infant’s behavior observed during the clinician-patient interaction to allow for the evaluation and prediction of neurodevelopmental outcomes This can be used to plan for the early rehabilitation and intervention of services according to the needs of a neonate [1]. The NBAS may help improve caregiver–infant interactions when the relationship between an infant and mother is challenging due to the hospitalization of a preterm neonate [2] It is for sure a stressful situation for a parent when a child stays in the hospital following birth and delivery and subsequently has to undergo stressful medical examinations [3,4]. Neurobehavioral scales help practitioners in understanding neonates as unique individuals whose behavior can be observed as a meaningful way in which to communicate their needs, abilities, challenges, and preferences to others [1]. The NBAS helps us in understanding newborns as unique individuals, by observing their communication, wants, needs, abilities, challenges, and preferences, some of these items may vary between full-term and preterm infants or may be challenging to assess due to an infant’s physiological immaturity
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