The effect of the swaddling method on stress levels in newborns administered nasal CPAP.

BACKGROUND: This study aims to investigate the effects of the swaddling method on the stress levels in newborns receiving nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP).

METHODS: The study was conducted between 1 June 2022 and 1 October 2022 with 40 newborns who underwent nCPAP in the second-level Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) of a city hospital in the Central Anatolia Region of Turkey. Data were collected using a descriptive form, including the characteristics of newborns, a patient follow-up chart, and the Newborn Stress Scale (NSS). The descriptive form, the patient follow-up chart, and the NSS were completed by the researcher 30 min after the nCPAP was started and the first saliva sample was taken. The patient follow-up chart and NSS were completed 30 min after applying the swaddling method and the second saliva sample was collected. The data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25.0 package software and presented with number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, min-max, and t-test.

RESULTS: The study found that the mean score of the NSS after the intervention (3.52 ± 2.57) was lower than that before the intervention (10.02 ± 2.05) (p < 0.05). The mean saliva cortisol levels of the newborns after the intervention (4.99 ± 1.89) were lower than before the intervention (5.51 ± 1.65) (p < 0.05). The mean heart (135.50 ± 14.15) and respiratory rates (68.07 ± 10.16) of the newborns after the intervention were lower than those before the intervention (140.82 ± 18.11; 72.95 ± 9.06, respectively) (p < 0.05). There was no difference between the mean oxygen saturation of newborns before and after the intervention (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: The study showed that the swaddling method played a role in reducing the stress levels in newborns who underwent nCPAP. It is recommended that randomized controlled trials examining the effect of swaddling on the stress levels of newborns who underwent nCPAP be conducted.