A comparison between the effects of swaddled bathing and conventional bathing on some physiological and behavioral parameters among the preterm neonates in neonatal intensive care unit in a Shiraz Medical Sciences University hospital.

1)Objectives: Comparing the effects of swaddle bathing and conventional bathing on some physiological and behavioral parameters among the preterm neonates. 2) Design: single-blind randomized clinical trial 3) Setting and conduct: 50 premature infants who are eligible for the study are divided by simple randomized sampling allocation into two experimental and control groups. The infants in the experimental group are bathed using the swaddled bathing method and the infants in the control group are bathed using the conventional bathing method. Body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen saturation are measured 10 minutes before and 10 minutes after the bathing by a nurse who is kept uninformed about the study and its assumptions. To record the behavioral responses, the infant's face is captured in close-up during the bathing and the films are interpreted by an observer without knowledge of the intervention type. Finally, the changes in the physiological and behavioral parameters of the two groups are compared. 4) Participants including major eligibility criteria: The preterm neonates in the neonatal intensive care unit; Major inclusion criteria include gestational age of 30–36 weeks, postnatal age of 7-30 days, not using sedatives and skeletal muscle relaxant drugs, no major congenital, chromosomal or neurological abnormalities, no evidence of grade II or higher intraventricular hemorrhage, and the stability of physiological parameters in the infant. Major exclusion criteria include the occurrence of seizures or symptoms of physiological instability in the infant, and parents' unwillingness to continue cooperating in research. 5) Interventions: Using the conventional bathing method in the control group and the swaddled bathing method in the experimental group, measuring physiological parameters before and after the bathing, recording and interpreting the behavioral responses during the bathing. 6) Main outcome measures (variables): Body temperature, heart rate, respiratory rate, blood oxygen saturation, and behavioral responses.

Vice chancellor for research, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences