Technical Innovation for Visual Assessment of Preterm Newborns in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Exploratory Study

C A Moran; V L Alves; S A Pereira; M F Costa

doi:10.1155/2021/9837505

Technical Innovation for Visual Assessment of Preterm Newborns in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: Exploratory Study

Rehabil Res Pract. 2021 Jan 4:2021:9837505. doi: 10.1155/2021/9837505. eCollection 2021.

Authors

C A Moran¹, V L Alves², S A Pereira³, M F Costa⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Health Sciences, Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Araranguá, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
² Department of Physiotherapy, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Santa Casa de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
³ Department of Physiotherapy, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil.
⁴ Department of Experimental Psychology, Center for Neurosciences and Applied Neurosciences, Institute of Psychology, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.

Abstract

Objective: The present study is aimed at assessing heart rate variability (HRV) and its correlation with visual acuity (VA) assessment of preterm newborns (PTNB) in neonatal intensive care units.

Method: Cross-sectional study analyzing HRV during assessment of VA with the aid of a Polar RS800CX heart rate monitor (Polar Electro Oy, Finland). HRV was analyzed according to time and frequency domains and the chaos domain used the autocorrelation coefficient and entropy. The sample consisted of hospitalized PTNB, and static analysis included simple regression diagnosis.

Results: A total of 14 PTNB were included in the sample. VA varied between 0.23 and 1.60 cpd, and only five PTNB obtained below-expected values for age. Statistical analysis demonstrated a negative correlation between VA and time domain (SDDN and SD2) and a positive correlation between frequency domain (heart rate and hertz), but in simple linear regression analysis, these variables did not influence VA.

Conclusion: The results of the study demonstrate that visual acuity was inversely correlated with SDNN and SD2 and during stimulation, showing that the higher the visual performance, the lower the autonomic modulation response.