Abstract

Background: Light is one of the potential sources of harm to preterm infants admitted to the NICU. The physiological changes in response to sound such as an oscillation in heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation are among the adverse effects of light on the infants. Thus, this research is developed with a purpose to determine the light reduction on heart rate, respiratory rate, and blood oxygen saturation in preterm infants. Materials and Methods: This clinical trial was performed on 60 preterm infants at 28-32 weeks of pregnancy who were hospitalized from 1/10/94 to 1/2/95 one week after stabilizing the clinical condition in the NICU at Tabriz Al-Zahra Medical Education Center. The samples were randomly divided into two groups. In the intervention group, in addition to the routine light reduction of the department (drawing the curtains, turning off the extra light, and putting a thick cover on incubator), the faces of the infants were also covered by the light insulation covers, however, merely the routine light reduction of the department was applied in the control group. This research lasted for 6 days, and during the intervention days, the heart rate, respiratory rate, and oxygen saturation of infants were evaluated and recorded using checklist in two groups. Results: In the intervention group, the oxygen saturation was increased by 4%, while heart rate was reduced by 27 beats per min and respiratory rate was reduced by 19 breaths per min (p<0.0005). The noise variable was under control during the intervention days, and there was no significant statistical effect in accordance to the statistical results. Conclusion: The results indicate the effect of light reduction on the increased oxygen saturation and reduced respiratory rate and heart rate in the preterm infants admitted at NICU, and this process can result in an increase in the preterm infant sleep.