title: The Stockholm Neonatal Family Centered Care Study: effects on length of stay and infant morbidity.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Parental involvement in the care of preterm infants in NICUs is becoming increasingly common, but little is known about its effect on infants' length of hospital stay and infant morbidity. Our goal was to evaluate the effect of a new model of family care (FC) in a level 2 NICU, where parents could stay 24 hours/day from admission to discharge.
  
  
  METHODS
  A randomized, controlled trial was conducted in 2 NICUs (both level 2), including a standard care (SC) ward and an FC ward, where parents could stay from infant admission to discharge. In total, 366 infants born before 37$$\raisebox{1ex}{$0$}\!\left/ \!\raisebox{-1ex}{$7$}\right.$$ weeks of gestation were randomly assigned to FC or SC on admission. The primary outcome was total length of hospital stay, and the secondary outcome was short-term infant morbidity. The analyses were adjusted for maternal ethnic background, gestational age, and hospital site.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total length of hospital stay was reduced by 5.3 days: from a mean of 32.8 days (95% confidence interval [CI]: 29.6-35.9) in SC to 27.4 days (95% CI: 23.2-31.7) in FC (P = .05). This difference was mainly related to the period of intensive care. No statistical differences were observed in infant morbidity, except for a reduced risk of moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia: 1.6% in the FC group compared with 6.0% in the SC group (adjusted odds ratio: 0.18 [95% CI: 0.04-0.8]).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Providing facilities for parents to stay in the neonatal unit from admission to discharge may reduce the total length of stay for infants born prematurely. The reduced risk of moderate-to-severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia needs additional investigation.
authors.affiliation: Sachs Children's Hospital, Södersjukhuset, SE-118 83 Stockholm, Sweden. annika.ortenstrand@sodersjukhuset.se
authors.forename: Annica
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ortenstrand
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Westrup
authors.forename: Eva Berggren
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Broström
authors.forename: Ihsan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sarman
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akerström
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Brune
authors.forename: Lene
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: Ulla
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Waldenström
mesh_terms: D001997:Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia; D022143:Family Nursing; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007224:Infant Care / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000523:psychology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007235:Infant, Premature, Diseases / Q000628:therapy; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D013548:Sweden