The effect of telerehabilitation on sensory and motor development in premature nfants

This study is planned to investigate the effect of telerehabilitation on the development of premature infants with motor and sensory involvement. In this prospective, randomized, and controlled study, 32 risky premature babies aged between 4 and 12 months were randomized into the telerehabilitation and control groups. A family-centered, sensory integration-based neurodevelopmental treatment program was created for babies in the telerehabilitation group. Forty-five minutes one-to-one telerehabilitation sessions were performed three times a week for eight weeks. Bayley-3 battery was used to evaluate the motor functions. The Test of Sensory Functions in Infants, and Toddler Sensory Profile-2, and Infant Sensory Profile-2 questionnaires were used to evaluate sensory processes. The efficacy of the eight-week treatment was evaluated by the tests at the beginning of the study and at the end of the treatment period. At the initial evaluation, both groups were homogeneous regarding demographic and clinical parameters. It is seen that there is a statistically significant difference between the Cognitive and Motor pretest and posttest scores between the telerehabilitation patient group and the control group (p<0.05). In the pretest and posttest results of the Toddler Sensory Profile-2 and Infant Sensory Profile-2 questionnaires between the telerehabilitation and the control groups, it is seen that the infants' Seeking, Registration-Bystander behaviors changed significantly (p<0.05). In the areas examined with the Test of Sensory Functions in Infants, it was observed that the Reactivity to Tactile Deep Pressure, Adaptive Motor Functions, and Reactivity to Vestibular Stimulation total pretest and posttests results of the telerehabilitation group changed significantly compared to the control group (p<0.05). It has been concluded that premature babies should be followed closely regarding both motor development and sensory processing from the early period, and telerehabilitation can contribute to positive results in these follow-ups.