Comparison of the Effect of Applying Polyethylene Wrap and Aircap in Maintaining Body Temperature of Preterm Infants / 임상간호연구

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#This study was an quasi-experimental study to compare the effect of applying polyethylene wrap and aircap in maintaining body temperature of preterm infants. @*Methods@#The participants were 51 preterm infants.Aircap was applied to the experimental group (n=23) and polyethylene wrap was applied to the control group (n=28) when the preterm infants admitted to neonatal intensive care unit. The data was collected at W hospital in J-province from June 2016 to May 2017. A total of 9 body temperature measurements were taken at 3 hours interval from 5 min to 24 hours after admission. Repeated measure ANOVA, independent t-test and x 2 test were conducted used with SPSS/WIN 24.0 @*Results@#There were no significant difference in the homogeneity tests for general characteristics and dependent variables prior to the experiments (t=0.57, p=.566). There was a significant difference on body temperature of preterm infants over time (F=3.24, p=.020). There was no significant difference on body temperature between polyethylene wrap and aircap application groups (F=1.29, p=.261). The interaction between the group and the time was insignificant (F=1.51, p=.214). @*Conclusion@#The findings demonstrated that both methods of applying polyethylene wrap and aircap on the body in preterm infants had effect in maintaining body temperature.