Designing a sleep program to improve intelectual development of preterm toddlers

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K06361
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 45060:Applied anthropology-related
• Research Institution: Akita University
• Principal Investigator: Ohta Hidenobu 秋田大学, 医学系研究科, 教授 (80422103)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 長 和俊 北海道大学, 大学病院, 准教授 (10312365) ; 草川 功 聖路加国際大学, 看護学部, 臨床教授 (20241052) ; 中川 真智子 東邦大学, 医学部, 博士研究員 (80721357)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-04-01 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 早産児 / 睡眠 / 精神発達

Outline of Final Research Achievements

A Swedish large-scale cohort study of 1.18 million preterm infants reported that preterm infants born at 22-28 week gestational ages had an incidence rate of ADHD twice as high as that of full-term infants. This suggests that artificial environments in NICU affect ADHD occurrence in preterm infants. Therefore, it is important for pediatric professionals to detect signs related to developmental disorders and to introduce early intensive behavioral and developmental interventions to young preterm-born toddlers at risk of developmental disorders in order to enhance their developmental outcomes. In this project, we developed a method to detect ADHD-like tendency in preterm toddlers of 1.5 years of age and developed a sleep program to improve their intellectual development.

Free Research Field

児童精神

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

早産児の知的発達を促す「睡眠プログラム」を開発する。この「睡眠プログラム」により早産児の発達予後を改善する。