The Effect of Regular Stimulation on the Reduction of Premature Infant's Apnea

주기적 자극 제공이 미숙아 무호흡 감소에 미치는 효과

Purpose:　The purpose of this study is to identify how regular stimulation affects apnea of a premature infant. Method: This study was used a within-subjects design with repeated measure using GEE (General Estimating Equation) and had been conducted from July 1, 2003 to March 12, 2004. The subjects consisted of 11 apneic premature infants who had showed apnea more than twice for 12 hours. A regularly vibrating test lung was provided to the subjects to find how regular stimulation affects apnea. Result: From the result of regular stimulation for apneic premature infants, both the lowest SaO2 and the lowest heart rate at experimental period were found to be increased significantly. However, the decreased frequency of the apnea cases was not statistically effective. Conclusion: These findings indicate that regular stimulation for apneic premature infants could be effective on increasing both SaO2 and heart rate. Therefore, we suggest regular stimulation to be used clinically to heal apnea of premature infants.