The Influence of Thermal Head and Feet Support on Early Stage Weight Gain in Premature Neonates

미숙아의 머리 및 발 보온이 출생초기 체중에 미치는 영향

This is a nonequivalent control group pretest- posttest design in quasi experimental basis to assess how the thermal head and feet support influences on early stage weight gain in premature neonates. The clients were selected among the premature infants with the weight under 2000gms and with the gestational period under 37 weeks, admitted over 15 days in K university hospital, Seoul. The control group of 29 were selected from January 1998 to August 1998, who were without head and feet thermal support, and the experimental group of 30 were selected from September 1998 to May 1999, who were with the two thermal interventions. The results of the study follow, 1.The experimental group with thermal interventions showed more weight gain than the control group without thermal interven- tions, which was statistically significant between the two groups. 2.The physiological weight loss after birth showed less in the experimental group than in the control group. 3.The recovery of the birth weight after the physiologic weight loss showed no statistical difference between the experimental group and the control group. Consequently, the thermal head and feet supportive nursing intervention could be applied as a nursing intervention program to help the premature neonates' development. With the results above we should like to suggest the following: 1) A continuous application in the practice of our thermal supportive intervention for the premature neonates, a development of the content through evaluation, and a comparision of the results through a long time study. 2) A neccessity of deveopment of various study and cross comparision. 3) A neccessity of multi-angular study on the premature infants' characteristics influencing the thermal therapy and the study of the individual differences of the clients.