ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Pediatr.
Sec. Children and Health
Application and Effect of Developmental Supportive Care on Growth and Neurobehavioral Development in Preterm Infants
Provisionally accepted
- Zhangjiakou First Hospital, Hebei, China
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Objective: To evaluate the effects of developmental supportive care on growth, neurobehavioral function, and cognitive development in preterm infants. Methods: In this retrospective study, a total of 104 preterm infants born in our hospital were enrolled and divided into the routine care group (n = 49) and the developmental supportive care group (n = 55) based on the nursing approach they received during their hospitalization. Both groups received nursing care during hospitalization for 7 days. Routine care included monitoring of vital signs, feeding management, environmental control, skin and oral care, positioning, management of clinical conditions, and parental education. Developmental supportive care was implemented on the basis of routine care and comprised individualized care plans, environmental and sensory regulation, clustered care, tactile stimulation, non-nutritive sucking training, kangaroo care, feeding optimization, pain and stress management, parental involvement, and systematic recording and evaluation of the care effects. Outcome measures included body weight, length, head circumference, and chest circumference before and after the care; neurobehavioral function (passive muscle tone, active muscle tone, primitive reflexes, behavioral state, and general status); and cognitive development assessed by the Mental Development Index (MDI) and Psychomotor Development Index (PDI). Results: There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in baseline characteristics, growth indices, neurobehavioral function, or cognitive development before the care (P > 0.05). After the care, growth parameters increased in both groups, with body weight, length, head circumference, and chest circumference significantly higher in the developmental supportive care group than in the routine care group (P < 0.05). Neurobehavioral scores as well as MDI and PDI scores improved in both groups, with significantly greater improvements observed in the developmental supportive care group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Developmental supportive care can effectively promote growth, neurobehavioral function, and cognitive development in preterm infants. Compared with routine care, this model offers systematic and individualized nursing approaches that enhance physiological stability and developmental outcomes, providing reliable evidence for clinical neonatal nursing practice.
Keywords: cognitive development, developmental supportive care, Growth and Development, Neurobehavioral function, preterm infants
Received: 03 Nov 2025; Accepted: 02 Dec 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Niu, Li and Jing. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Yachao Jing
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