Short‐time effect of the kangaroo position on electromyographic activity of premature infants: a randomized clinical trial

Objective

To verify the short‐term influence of the kangaroo position (KP) on the electromyography activity of preterm newborns.

Method

A clinical study was conducted in a kangaroo unit sector (secondary and tertiary care) in the city of Recife, Brazil, with 44 preterm infants randomized to intervention (n = 21) and control (n = 23) groups. The KP was performed through a band that supports the newborn against the adult's thorax, in a prone and vertical position, and infants were dressed with few pieces of clothes, thus keeping skin‐to‐skin contact with the mother. Surface electromyography was used to investigate the muscle activity of the biceps brachii and hamstrings. The randomization of the groups was performed by the program R® (v. 3.3.1). The electromyography registrations were made at three different times: before the KP and after one and two hours of KP. In the control group, the registrations were performed at the times corresponding to those of the intervention group. The mean values of the electromyography activity among the times were analyzed by ANOVA for repeated measures and the Kruskal‐Wallis test. The clinical trial was recorded in ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02849665 ‐ 07/28/2016).

Results

In the intervention group (n = 21), there was a variation of the electromyography activity values between the three recording moments for both the biceps brachii and hamstrings. In the control group (n = 23), there was no statistical difference between the recording moments for both.

Conclusions

The KP increases the short‐term electromyographic activity of the biceps brachii and hamstrings.