Inpatient Kangaroo Care Predicts Early Cognitive Development at 6 and 12 Months in Infants Born Very Preterm

Background Limited research links hospital-based experiences of Kangaroo Care (KC), or skin-to-skin holding to longer-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in preterm children. The present study examined relations between inpatient KC and cognitive abilities measured at 6- and 12-months of age in a sample of very preterm (VPT) infants. Methods Retrospective study reviewing medical records of 132 (54% male) VPT infants (<32 weeks gestational age (GA)). We calculated KC frequency (instances/day), KC rate (minutes/day), and KC duration (minutes/instance). Scores on the Cognitive-Adaptive Test were available as part of routine follow-up care at 6 (n=77) and 12 (n = 37) months. Results Families engaged in KC about 2 days/week, 20 minutes/day, and 70 minutes/session, on average, although there was substantial variability. Variation in KC was positively associated with cognitive outcomes at both 6 (frequency: r=0.32; rate: r=0.29) and 12 (frequency: r=0.53; rate: r=0.59; duration: r=0.38) months. KC significantly predicted 7 to 27% unique variance in 6- and 12-month cognitive outcomes, after controlling for GA, socioeconomic status, health acuity, visitation frequency, and prior cognitive scores. Small increases in KC frequency (e.g., 1 day/week), rate (e.g., 20 minutes/day) or duration (e.g., 20 minutes/instance) were associated with 0.5 to 1.0 SD increases in cognitive outcomes at 12 months. SES, GA, and infant health acuity did not moderate these relations. Conclusion VPT infants with more KC during hospitalization demonstrated higher scores on 6- and 12-month assessments of cognitive development. Results provide strong evidence that KC may confer neuroprotection on VPT infants through the first year of life.