Effects of Topical Oils on Neonatal Skin: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVE: To identify studies that aimed to determine the effects of topical oils on neonatal skin. DATA SOURCES: Authors searched PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Science Direct databases. STUDY SELECTION: The databases were searched for studies published through February 2022 (when the search was conducted) using the keywords "skin", "neonatal", "infant", and "oil". Fourteen randomized controlled trials that met the eligibility criteria were included in the review. DATA EXTRACTION: Researchers used the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses) reporting guidelines to guide this systematic review. Two authors reviewed and evaluated the articles independently. DATA SYNTHESIS: The 14 studies included in this review were conducted with a total of 5,683 neonates, most of whom were preterm. The included studies used blended sunflower (n = 8), coconut (n = 5), almond (n = 2), olive (n = 1), mustard (n = 1), and vegetable (n = 1) oils. These studies investigated the effects of topical oils on the skin's barrier functions and skin integrity. Most studies used noninvasive measurement devices to evaluate the skin's barrier functions; they used a variety of scoring systems to evaluate skin integrity. Eleven of the studies concluded that the oils used in the skincare of neonates effectively improve the skin condition and barrier functions of the skin. However, three studies found equivocal, negative, or mixed findings. CONCLUSION: Although current evidence indicates a potential benefit, more studies with a high level of evidence on the subject are required.

The Effect of Parental Presence on Pain Levels of Children During Invasive Procedures: A Systematic Review.

AIM: This systematic review was conducted to determine the effect of parental presence on the child's pain intensity during invasive procedures. DESIGN: A systematic review. METHOD: The systematic review was conducted in July 2019 and updated in December 2020 to include the latest research published during the publication process by scanning the articles in English. Scopus, Pubmed, Cochrane, Science Direct, MedLine databases were used for scanning. The keywords "parental presence", "family presence", "parent involvement", "invasive procedures", "venipuncture", "painful procedures", "child", "children", "pediatric" were used in the scanning. Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses protocol was followed to prepare the study and the report, and the systematic review was created according to the patient, intervention, comparison, outcomes (PICOS) strategy. RESULTS: A total of 248 articles were reached, and the full texts of 18 articles were evaluated for eligibility. After the articles excluded by the full-text search were eliminated, six studies, involving 730 children with a sample aged between 0-12 years, were included in the analysis. In 4 studies, it was determined that having a parent with the child during the invasive procedure significantly decreased the pain level, and in 2 studies, there was no statistically significant decrease in the pain level of the children. CONCLUSIONS: Parental presence and parental involvement during invasive procedures effectively reduced the children's pain levels. Since the number of studies with a high level of evidence regarding the effect of family participation on pain level is limited, it is recommended to conduct more randomized controlled studies.