Feasibility of Care Toy Early Intervention in infants with Down Syndrome
Emanuela Inguaggiato1, Elena Beani2, Giuseppina Sgandurra3, Giovanni Cioni4, Care Toy DD Consortium5
1Emanuela Inguaggiato, Child Neurologist and Psychiatrist, Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy.
2E Beani, Pediatric Physical Therapist, Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy.
3*Giuseppina Sgandurra, Child Neurologist and Psychiatrist, Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa and Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa Italy.
4Giovanni Cioni, Full Professor and Child Neurologist and Psychiatrist, Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa and Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Pisa Italy.
5CareToy DD (Developmental Diosrders) Consortium, Stefania Bargagna, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy; Martina Orlando IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy; Giulia Purpura IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Pisa, Italy
Manuscript received on November 20, 2019. | Revised Manuscript received on November 26, 2019. | Manuscript published on 30 November, 2019. | PP: 3117-3123 | Volume-8 Issue-4, November 2019. | Retrieval Number: D7976118419/2019©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijrte.D7976.118419
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC-BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Abstract: Care Toy (CT) System has been recently developed and validated in preterm infants with positive effects at short-term both on visual and motor development. Objective. We aimed to assess the feasibility of CT training in infants with Down Syndrome (DS) and to evaluate the effects of the CT training in promoting their neurodevelopment. Methods. 10 infants with DS aged 6.16 ± 1.54 months were recruited and allocated in two groups: CareToy (CT) or Standard Care (SC). 5 infants of the CT group performed CT Intervention in the clinical setting for 5 weeks; other 5 infants were followed as SC for the same period. Data about the feasibility of the intervention were collected. Moreover, all recruited infants performed motor and visual assessment at baseline (T0) and in the week after the CT or SC periods (T1; 5 weeks after T0). Results. All infants allocated in the CT group performed the CT training with good compliance. In all outcome measures the mean delta changes (T1-T0) showed promising positive effects of the training in the CT group, compared to SC. Conclusions. CT demonstrated its feasibility for providing EI also in infants with DS and its effects seems promising. However, further large RCT studies are needed.
Keywords: Down syndrome; Early Intervention; CareToy intervention, Feasibility, Information and Communication Technologies, Medical device.
Scope of the Article: Economics of Energy Harvesting Communications.