Investigation of the Effectiveness of Environmental Enrichment-Based Intervention in Preterm Infants

Premature birth is defined by WHO (World Health Organization) as all births occurring before 37 weeks of gestation. The global preterm birth rate for 2014 is estimated at 10.6% (9%-12%), equating to an estimated 14.84 million (12.65 million-16.73 million) live preterm births in 2014. Preterm birth results in significant healthcare utilization and costs. Families of preterm infants often experience significant psychological and significant psychological and financial difficulties. Preterm infants have an increased risk for social, cognitive, language, sensory processing and motor skill disorders. There are different early intervention methods for preterm infants, and enriched environment (EE)-based intervention is one of the current intervention methods that have been used recently. There are studies showing that EE-based interventions have neurobehavioral benefits and positively affect brain functions and motor development. There are a limited number of studies on EE-based early intervention methods in the literature, and these studies were conducted in different age and diagnosis groups by applying different intervention methods. Therefore, more studies are needed on this subject. In this study, it was aimed to contribute to the literature in this field and to investigate the effectiveness of an EE-based intervention on the sensory and motor functions of preterm infants and the emotional state of the family.