Emollient therapy for preterm newborn infants--evidence from the developing world.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Application of emollients is a widespread traditional newborn care practice in many low and middle-income countries (LMICs) and may have the potential to decrease infection and consequent mortality in preterm neonates.

METHODS:

We systematically reviewed literature published up to December 2012 to identify studies describing the effectiveness of emollient therapy. We used a standardized abstraction and grading format to estimate the effect of emollient therapy by applying the standard Child Health Epidemiology Reference Group (CHERG) rules.

RESULTS:

We included seven studies and one unpublished trial in this review. Topical emollient therapy significantly reduced neonatal mortality by 27% (RR: 0.73, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.94) and hospital acquired infection by 50% (RR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.36, 0.71). There were significant increases in weight (g) (MD: 98.04, 95% CI: 42.64, 153.45) and weight gain (g/kg/day) (MD: 1.57, 95% CI: 0.79, 2.36), whereas the impacts were non-significant for length and head circumference.

CONCLUSION:

Emollient therapy is associated with improved weight gain, reduced risk of infection and associated newborn mortality in preterm neonates and is a potentially promising intervention for use in low resource settings. Large scale effectiveness trials are required to further assess the impact of this intervention.

• Authors: Rehana A Salam, Jai K Das, Gary L Darmstadt, Zulfiqar A Bhutta
• Journal: BMC public health (BMC Public Health) Vol. 13 Suppl 3 Pg. S31 ( 2013) ISSN: 1471-2458 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 24564550 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Emollients

Topics

• Cross Infection (prevention & control)
• Developing Countries
• Emollients (therapeutic use)
• Evidence-Based Medicine
• Female
• Humans
• Infant
• Infant Care (methods)
• Infant Welfare (statistics & numerical data)
• Infant, Newborn
• Infant, Premature
• Infant, Premature, Diseases (prevention & control)
• Weight Gain