Yakson touch and kinesthetic stimulation on development of high-risk neonates in neonatal intensive care units: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background and Objectives: About 15 million babies are born preterm every year. Among them, almost 1 million neonates die due to complications. Even the survivors are prone to lifetime disability. Yakson touch and kinesthetic stimulation techniques have been proved to be effective in minimizing the complications and disability, but there is no standardized protocol. Hence, we aimed to investigate the efficacy of Yakson touch in combination with kinesthetic stimulation (YAKIN) on the development of high-risk neonates. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight neonates were recruited through parental consent from a recognized tertiary care teaching hospital for this two-group pre- and post-test design of randomized controlled trial and were allocated into control group (n = 14) and experimental group (n = 14) by block randomization method. Neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) was performed on all recruited neonates. The duration of intervention was 5 days out of 7 days. The experimental group received Yakson touch and kinesthetic stimulation and the control group received conventional handling which included developmental positioning and Kangaroo mother care. On the 7th day, NBAS was done again to document the effect of the intervention. Results: Neonates median gestational age of 35 (34, 35.3) weeks in experimental and 35 (33.5, 36) in control group were recruited. There were no significant differences between the groups (p> 0.05). Large effect size index was seen in the experimental group. Conclusions: Efficacy of the standardized protocol YAKIN has been verified, and it may have positive effects on the overall development of high-risk neonates.