Neonatal adaptive behavioral assessment in asphyxiated full-term newborn infants as measured by the Brazelton scale

Abstract

Background Brazelton scale was designed to assess neonatal adaptive behavior, a newborn infant’s ability to interact with envi- ronmental stimuli. It can be used as a screening tool to detect an infant’s deviant behavior. Objective To assess the adaptive behavior of asphyxiated full-term newborn infants compared to that of non-asphyxiated newborns. Methods A cross sectional analytic study was conducted from March 2003 until March 2004. Subjects were allocated into two groups (non asphyxiated and asphyxiated infants) and enrolled consecu- tively. The evaluation was done twice, at the age of 3-7 days and 1 month. A p value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Forty eight newborn infants in each group were compared. There were no characteristic differences between the groups. At the first evaluation, non asphyxiated infants scored better on mo- tor (p=0.015), reflex (p=0.000), habituation (p=0.022), and social- interaction (p=0.020) than asphyxiated infants did. At the age of 1 month, motor (p<0.0001), reflex (p<0.0001), habituation (p<0.0001), state organization (p<0.0001), and social-interaction (p=0.045) were also better in non-asphyxiated infants. Conclusion Assesment by the Brazelton scale showed that the adaptive behavior of full-term asphyxiated newborn infants was different from that of non-asphyxiated infants

Keywords

• neonatal behavioral assesment
• Brazelton scale
• asphyxiated newborn infant