MONDAY, Nov. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Gel pillows do not reduce bilateral head molding in premature infants, according to a clinical study report published in the November issue of the journal Applied Nursing Research.
In a randomized, controlled study, Alyce A. Schultz, R.N., Ph.D., of Arizona State University in Tempe, and colleagues evaluated the effectiveness of gel pillows in reducing bilateral head molding (plagiocephaly) in 81 preterm infants weighing under 1,500 g, by randomly assigning them at birth to usual care on a standard mattress (n = 40) or to placement on a gel pillow (n = 41) and measuring the cephalic index (CI).
The findings at five to 10 weeks' follow-up revealed no statistically significant difference in the CI between the two groups upon entry into the study (gel pillows: mean CI = 1.30, SD = 0.073; standard mattress: mean CI = 1.32, SD = 0.094) or between the CI of infants weighing under 1,000 g (CI = 1.31, SD = 0.080) and the CI of infants weighing above 1,000 g (CI = 1.32, SD = 0.091) upon entry, the report indicates.
"Although the study was underpowered for statistical significance, based on clinical relevance and on the low cost of gel pillows, they are now used with infants of less than or equal to 30 weeks' gestation, weighing under 1,000 g, and/or who are unable to have their positions changed frequently," the authors write.
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