Impact of emollient therapy for preterm infants in the neonatal period on child neurodevelopment in Bangladesh: an observational cohort study

Neonatal emollient therapy and massage practices in Africa: a scoping review

There have been few reports from Africa on the use and health effects of emollient therapy for newborn infants. We aimed to describe neonatal skin care practices in Africa, and to illuminate opportunities to introduce evidence-based interventions to improve these practices. We conducted a scoping review of the quantitative and qualitative published peer-reviewed and grey literature in English on emollient use in Africa. Outcomes of interest included neonatal skin care practices, with a focus on the application of oils and other products to infant skin, including in association with bathing and massage. We screened 5257 articles and summarised findings from 23 studies-13 qualitative, nine quantitative and one mixed methods-that met our study criteria. Seven studies reported the use of emollients for perceived benefits, including thermal care, treatment for illness, promotion of growth and development, infection reduction, skin condition improvement, spirituality and lubrication to aid massage. Four studies reported the quantitative health impact of skin care product applications, including improvements in skin condition, neurodevelopment and bone growth, as well as a reduction in nosocomial infections. This review highlights opportunities for skin care intervention and future research on neonatal skin care practices in Africa.

Effects of emollient therapy with sunflower seed oil on neonatal growth and morbidity in Uttar Pradesh, India: a cluster-randomized, open-label, controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Newborn oil massage is a widespread practice. Vigorous massage with potentially harmful products and forced removal of vernix may disrupt skin barrier integrity. Hospitalized, very-preterm infants treated with sunflower seed oil (SSO) have demonstrated improved growth but community-based data on growth and health outcomes are lacking.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to test whether SSO therapy enhances neonatal growth and reduces morbidity at the population level.

METHODS

We conducted an open-label, controlled trial in rural Uttar Pradesh, India, randomly allocating 276 village clusters equally to comparison (usual care) and intervention comprised of promotion of improved massage practices exclusively with SSO, using intention-to-treat and per-protocol mixed-effects regression analysis.

RESULTS

We enrolled 13,478 and 13,109 newborn infants in demographically similar intervention and comparison arms, respectively. Adherence to exclusive SSO increased from 22.6% of intervention infants enrolled in the first study quartile to 37.2% in the last quartile. Intervention infants gained significantly more weight, by 0.94 g · kg-1 · d-1 (95% CI: 0.07, 1.82 g · kg-1 · d-1, P = 0.03), than comparison infants by intention-to-treat analysis. Restricted cubic spline regression revealed the largest benefits in weight gain (2-4 g · kg-1 · d-1) occurred in infants weighing <2000 g at birth. Weight gain in intervention infants was higher by 1.31 g · kg-1 · d-1 (95% CI: 0.17, 2.46 g · kg-1 · d-1; P = 0.02) by per-protocol analysis. Morbidities were similar by intention-to-treat analysis but in per-protocol analysis rates of hospitalization and of any illness were reduced by 36% (OR: 0.64; 95% CI: 0.44, 0.94; P = 0.02) and 44% (OR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.40, 0.77; P < 0.001), respectively, in treated infants.

CONCLUSIONS

SSO therapy improved neonatal growth, and reduced morbidities when applied exclusively, across the facility-community continuum of care at the population level. Further research is needed to improve demand for recommended therapy inside hospital as well as in community settings, and to confirm these results in other settings.This trial was registered at www.isrctn.com as ISRCTN38965585 and http://ctri.nic.in as CTRI/2014/12/005282.

Effect of sunflower seed oil emollient therapy on newborn infant survival in Uttar Pradesh, India: A community-based, cluster randomized, open-label controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Hospitalized preterm infants with compromised skin barrier function treated topically with sunflower seed oil (SSO) have shown reductions in sepsis and neonatal mortality rate (NMR). Mustard oil and products commonly used in high-mortality settings may possibly harm skin barrier integrity and enhance risk of infection and mortality in newborn infants. We hypothesized that SSO therapy may reduce NMR in such settings.

METHODS AND FINDINGS

This was a population-based, cluster randomized, controlled trial in 276 clusters in rural Uttar Pradesh, India. All newborn infants identified through population-based surveillance in the study clusters within 7 days of delivery were enrolled from November 2014 to October 2016. Exclusive, 3 times daily, gentle applications of 10 ml of SSO to newborn infants by families throughout the neonatal period were recommended in intervention clusters (n = 138 clusters); infants in comparison clusters (n = 138 clusters) received usual care, such as massage practice typically with mustard oil. Primary analysis was by intention-to-treat with NMR and post-24-hour NMR as the primary outcomes. Secondary analysis included per-protocol analysis and subgroup analyses for NMR. Regression analysis was adjusted for caste, first-visit weight, delivery attendant, gravidity, maternal age, maternal education, sex of the infant, and multiple births. We enrolled 13,478 (52.2% male, mean weight: 2,575.0 grams ± standard deviation [SD] 521.0) and 13,109 (52.0% male, mean weight: 2,607.0 grams ± SD 509.0) newborn infants in the intervention and comparison clusters, respectively. We found no overall difference in NMR in the intervention versus the comparison clusters [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0.96, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.84 to 1.11, p = 0.61]. Acceptance of SSO in the intervention arm was high at 89.3%, but adherence to exclusive applications of SSO was 30.4%. Per-protocol analysis showed a significant 58% (95% CI 42% to 69%, p < 0.01) reduction in mortality among infants in the intervention group who were treated exclusively with SSO as intended versus infants in the comparison group who received exclusive applications of mustard oil. A significant 52% (95% CI 12% to 74%, p = 0.02) reduction in NMR was observed in the subgroup of infants weighing ≤1,500 g (n = 589); there were no statistically significant differences in other prespecified subgroup comparisons by low birth weight (LBW), birthplace, and wealth. No severe adverse events (SAEs) were attributable to the intervention. The study was limited by inability to mask allocation to study workers or participants and by measurement of emollient use based on caregiver responses and not actual observation.

CONCLUSIONS

In this trial, we observed that promotion of SSO therapy universally for all newborn infants was not effective in reducing NMR. However, this result may not necessarily establish equivalence between SSO and mustard oil massage in light of our secondary findings. Mortality reduction in the subgroup of infants ≤1,500 g was consistent with previous hospital-based efficacy studies, potentially extending the applicability of emollient therapy in very low-birth-weight (VLBW) infants along the facility-community continuum. Further research is recommended to develop and evaluate therapeutic regimens and continuum of care delivery strategies for emollient therapy for newborn infants at highest risk of compromised skin barrier function.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN38965585 and Clinical Trials Registry-India (CTRI/2014/12/005282) with WHO UTN # U1111-1158-4665.

Effect of topical applications of sunflower seed oil on systemic fatty acid levels in under-two children under rehabilitation for severe acute malnutrition in Bangladesh: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have inadequate levels of fatty acids (FAs) and limited capacity for enteral nutritional rehabilitation. We hypothesized that topical high-linoleate sunflower seed oil (SSO) would be effective adjunctive treatment for children with SAM.

Methods

This study tested a prespecified secondary endpoint of a randomized, controlled, unblinded clinical trial with 212 children with SAM aged 2 to 24 months in two strata (2 to < 6 months, 6 to 24 months in a 1:2 ratio) at Dhaka Hospital of icddr,b, Bangladesh between January 2016 and December 2017. All children received standard-of-care management of SAM. Children randomized to the emollient group also received whole-body applications of 3 g/kg SSO three times daily for 10 days. We applied difference-in-difference analysis and unsupervised clustering analysis using t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) to visualize changes in FA levels in blood from day 0 to day 10 of children with SAM treated with emollient compared to no-emollient.

Results

Emollient therapy led to systematically higher increases in 26 of 29 FAs over time compared to the control. These effects were driven primarily by changes in younger subjects (27 of 29 FAs). Several FAs, especially those most abundant in SSO showed high-magnitude but non-significant incremental increases from day 0 to day 10 in the emollient group vs. the no-emollient group; for linoleic acid, a 237 μg/mL increase was attributable to enteral feeding and an incremental 98 μg/mL increase (41%) was due to emollient therapy. Behenic acid (22:0), gamma-linolenic acid (18:3n6), and eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5n3) were significantly increased in the younger age stratum; minimal changes were seen in the older children.

Conclusions

SSO therapy for SAM augmented the impact of enteral feeding in increasing levels of several FAs in young children. Further research is warranted into optimizing this novel approach for nutritional rehabilitation of children with SAM, especially those < 6 months.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02616289.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12937-021-00707-3.