Compared to full term , premature infants exhibit significant differences in sleep structure , which mainly include differences in electroencephalographic spectral values , in total sleep time and in arousal threshold .
Furthermore , prematurity seems to be a risk factor of sleep breathing disorders in childhood and adolescence .
Conclusions The alterations in sleep patterns are an outcome of prematurity ( immaturity of nervous system ) as well as of postnatal factors and comorbidities .
Sleep problems in this population of infants seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle of impaired neurodevelopment .
Background Sleep undergoes changes from birth to adulthood , while sleep disorders are associated with various cognitive deficiencies in childhood .
In parallel , prematurity is known to predispose to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes .
Our aim is to provide literature data about factors influencing sleep in the premature infants and sleep outcomes in this population .
The effectiveness of earmuffs on the physiologic and behavioral stability in preterm infants.
BACKGROUND The use of earmuffs can protect preterm infants against negative effects of high noise levels in the neonatal intensive care unit . This study was aim ed at assessing the effectiveness of the earmuffs on the physiologic and behavioral responses in preterm infants . METHODS A crossed over controlled trial was conducted at Aliasghar Hospital ( Tehran , Iran ) in 2014 . Thirty-six preterm infants cared in closed incubators , 18 cases wore a pair of silicon earmuffs in the first day and the others were worn it at the second day . During 2 consecutive days , all subjects were observed as their own controls ( without earmuffs ) . Physiologic ( body temperature , heart rate , respiratory rate , systolic , diastolic pressures , arterial Oxygen Saturation ) and behavioral responses ( according to the And erson behavioral state scoring system ) were assessed every 2 h for 8 h long during daytime for two consecutive days . RESULTS The application of earmuffs could decrease the rate of the heart and respiratory while could increase the amount of oxygen saturation ( p < 0.05 ) . The results also showed that the preterm infants  with  earmuffs had lower ABSS score and a better light sleep compared to those without earmuffs ( 2.38 ± 0.47 versus 4.8 ± 0.97 , p < 0.05 ) . CONCLUSION The results indicated that using the earmuffs reduces the level of noise in NICUs following by improving the preterm neonates ' physiological stability and behavioral states of ABSS
Compared to full term , premature infants exhibit significant differences in sleep structure , which mainly include differences in electroencephalographic spectral values , in total sleep time and in arousal threshold .
Furthermore , prematurity seems to be a risk factor of sleep breathing disorders in childhood and adolescence .
Conclusions The alterations in sleep patterns are an outcome of prematurity ( immaturity of nervous system ) as well as of postnatal factors and comorbidities .
Sleep problems in this population of infants seems to be a missing piece of the puzzle of impaired neurodevelopment .
Background Sleep undergoes changes from birth to adulthood , while sleep disorders are associated with various cognitive deficiencies in childhood .
In parallel , prematurity is known to predispose to poor neurodevelopmental outcomes .
Our aim is to provide literature data about factors influencing sleep in the premature infants and sleep outcomes in this population .