Long-term outcomes of preterm infants admitted to single-family rooms versus an open-bay neonatal intensive care unit: A randomized controlled trial

Objective: To compare long-term outcomes of preterm infants in single-family room (SFR) vs. open-bay (OB) neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Study design: This randomized controlled trial took place in a tertiary NICU from April 2018 to June 2019. Infants <31 weeks gestation or ≤1500 grams birthweight were randomly assigned upon admission to SFR or OB. The primary outcome was death or neurodevelopmental impairment (NDI; cerebral palsy, language delay, cognitive delay, blindness, or deafness) at 36 months corrected age. Secondary outcomes were mortality, NDI components, and safety measures. Results: Of 85 infants (43 SFR, 42 OB), there was no difference in primary outcome (40.5% SFR vs. 47.4% OB, p = 0.644). Secondary outcomes did not differ except mortality, which was lower in SFR (1/41, 2.4%) than OB (8/42, 19.0%), p = 0.029. Conclusions: Composite outcome of death/NDI at 36 months corrected age was similar; however, reduction in mortality was noted in SFR. This trial was registered 6 Mar 2019 with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03867669 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/search?cond=NCT03867669).