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Open research questions in Infant Development and Preterm Care

718 gap statements mined from Infant Development and Preterm Care papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 4,499 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Although the effect of preterm birth on sleep has not been fully elucidated, it is thought that immature brain development, environmental stimuli in the neonatal intensive care unit, repeated painful procedures and neonatal complications may have a lasting impact on sleep architecture.

    Sleep Disturbances and Their Associations with Child and Family Quality of Life in School-Aged Children Born Before 32 Weeks of Gestation: A Cross-Sectional Comparative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on elucidating the mechanisms and implications of prolonged sleep in EP children. Furthermore, the observed associations between baseline characteristics and FLY-Kids outcomes should be further explored in larger EP populations before strong conclusions can be drawn regarding lifestyle risk stratification.

    Lifestyle behaviours in children born extremely preterm at 2 years: a comparison to a Dutch reference population · 2026 · DOI

  • Although a limited post hoc chart review did not identify false-positive results among children near the PPSC age cutoff, this is an important limitation to consider when interpreting those measures. This quality improvement project was implemented in a single academic medical center, and findings may not be generalizable to hospitals with different patient populations, resources, staffing, or clinical services.

    Bridging Infant Mental Health Screening and Intervention from NICU to Home: A Single-Center Quality Improvement Project · 2026 · DOI

  • These findings suggest that behavioral cues should be considered together with physiological stability when assessing readiness for oral feeding. Oral-motor and non-nutritive sucking interventions may improve feeding readiness by stabilizing behavioral state (41). Whether feeding (38).

    Three distinct trajectories of early oral feeding ability in preterm infants and their associated clinical factors · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on evaluating DCC implementation strategies in diverse contexts, with particular attention to equity, cultural responsiveness, and support for families from marginalized backgrounds to ensure universally accessible, high-quality developmental care.

    Developmental-Centered Care in Preterm Newborns: Scoping Review · 2025 · DOI

  • The potential impact of this tool in improving long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes remains to be evaluated, but this project has demonstrated the collaboration among parents, staff, and developmental experts in the creation of an innovative educational tool that is accessible and an invaluable adjunct in promoting NE in our NICU.

    Enhancing Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Preterm Infants Through the Sensory Development Care Map · 2025 · DOI

  • Although hospitalisation was frequently associated with relational difficulties, it remains unclear whether hospitalisation directly precipitates marital breakdown or merely amplifies pre-existing difficulties.

    Exploring the Impact of Child Hospitalisation on the Family System: A Qualitative Study Using Framework Analysis · 2025 · DOI

  • While these findings are consistent with international evidence, they fill an important gap in the literature where there is limited research examining these developmental dynamics in premature infants. Despite the well-documented difficulties associated with prematurity, limited research has explored its long-term influence on sensory maturation and mother–infant attachment.

    Impact of Prematurity and Maternal Bonding on Sensory Processing at 12 Months · 2025 · DOI

  • The minimum blood glucose level that can cause short- and long-term neurological damage remains unknown, although it appears to be lower than previously thought.

    Writhing Movements and Hypoglycemia in Moderate–Late Preterm Infants: A Prospective Cohort Study · 2025 · DOI

  • These findings suggest that NICU-related stress is associated with DNAm alterations in preterm infants, supporting the need for further investigation of DNAm as a biomarker of early-life stress.

    DNA Methylation of SLC6A4 and NR3C1 in Term and Preterm Infants: A Pilot Study of NICU-Associated Stress · 2025 · DOI

  • Limited research has compared DNAm patterns between term and preterm infants or examined associations between NICU-related stress and DNAm in preterm populations.

    DNA Methylation of SLC6A4 and NR3C1 in Term and Preterm Infants: A Pilot Study of NICU-Associated Stress · 2025 · DOI

  • Despite providing intensive care to more infants born <24 weeks' gestation, data on school-age outcomes, critical for counselling and decision-making, are sparse.

    Neurosensory, cognitive and academic outcomes at 8 years in children born 22–23 weeks’ gestation compared with more mature births · 2024 · DOI

  • Future research should examine longitudinal stability, cross-context consistency, and associations with neurophysiological markers such as prefrontal activation measured via fNIRS.

    Assessing affective touch in early caregiving: Development and validation of the Caregiver-Child Affective Touch Assessment (CCATA) · 2026 · DOI

  • Screening approaches identify substantial unmet social needs and commonly prompt referrals, but neonatal-context measurement evidence and standardised downstream outcomes are scarce.

    Social determinants of health screening and interventions in neonatal care pathways (NICU to follow-up): a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

  • Evidence on how FCC influences staff and organizational level outcomes remain comparatively underexplored in trials.

    Exploring Patient, Parent and Clinician Views of Outcomes for Family-Centered Care in Neonatal Settings: A Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • A comprehensive neurodevelopmental and neurovisual assessment is warranted in children born preterm with suboptimal VA.

    Suboptimal visual acuity and neurodevelopment at five years in children born very preterm: the EPIPAGE-2 cohort study · 2026 · DOI

  • This suggests that the mild day/night light cycle provided in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), including the current study setting, is insufficient to promote mature diurnal rhythms and may even be deleterious, as foetal-type rhythms persisted for weeks post-birth.

    Measurement of Salivary Cortisol for Revealing Age-Specific Dependence of Cortisol Levels on Time, Feeding, and Oxygen Metabolism in Newborn Infants · 2025 · DOI

  • Future studies should consider longitudinal and repeated assessments of perceived severity and control, especially within the first days and weeks following the disclosure, to better understand how illness appraisals and emotional responses evolve over time.

    Perceived severity and parental distress after positive expanded newborn screening: parent–clinician concordance and dyadic processes · 2026 · DOI

  • Those discrepancies should be explored further to better understand needs and accommodate them.

    Child’s daily life at 10 years following moderate, late preterm, or early term birth: results from EPIPAGE-2 and ELFE cohorts · 2026 · DOI

  • Gaps in the experience of care persist in Ghana, not because standards are lacking, but because of challenges in implementation.

    Mothers’ experiences with newborn quality of care in neonatal intensive care units in Ghana. A qualitative study utilising WHO quality of care standards · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should explore how their content and other parenting resources influence caregivers and, in turn, infants’ motor behaviors.

    Parental Perspectives and Infant Motor Development: An Integrated Ecological Model · 2025 · DOI

  • While school attainment is well-studied across subgroups, other aspects of daily life are rarely reported for MPT, LPT and early term (37 +0 –38 +6, ET) or are explored only qualitatively.

    Child’s daily life at 10 years following moderate, late preterm, or early term birth: results from EPIPAGE-2 and ELFE cohorts · 2026 · DOI

  • As the complex care community researches the impact of prolonged hospitalization on child development, complementary research should begin to identify solutions. Ranken Jordan will continue to optimize the Care Beyond the Bedside model to maximize children’s time out of bed and to measure the impact of the care model on children’s development.

    Care Beyond the Bedside: Creating Space for Families of Hospitalized Children with Medical Complexity · 2025 · DOI

  • Respiratory variables were limited to a binary history of mechanical ventilation; ventilation duration and respiratory support at oral feeding initiation were not available and could not be adjusted for.

    Three distinct trajectories of early oral feeding ability in preterm infants and their associated clinical factors · 2026 · DOI

  • As no studies have previously assessed the predictive ability of PIM-3 in neonates, the fact that this score had the strongest predictive ability for mortality when compared…

    Can PIM-3 score predict risk for neonatal mortality vs. SNAPPE II and SNAP II scores in a tertiary surgical neonatal intensive care unit? · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Infant Development and Preterm Care

Most recent work

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Future research should focus on elucidating the mechanisms and implications of prolonged sleep in EP children (“Lifestyle behaviours in children born extremely preterm at 2 years: a…”, 2026); (2) Future research should examine longitudinal stability, cross-context consistency, and associations with neurophysiological markers such as prefrontal activation measured via fNIRS (“Assessing affective touch in early caregiving: Development and validation of…”, 2026); (3) Screening approaches identify substantial unmet social needs and commonly prompt referrals, but neonatal-context measurement evidence and standardised downstream outcomes are scarce (“Social determinants of health screening and interventions in neonatal care…”, 2026); (4) A comprehensive neurodevelopmental and neurovisual assessment is warranted in children born preterm with suboptimal VA (“Suboptimal visual acuity and neurodevelopment at five years in children born…”, 2026); (5) Gaps in the experience of care persist in Ghana, not because standards are lacking, but because of challenges in implementation (“Mothers’ experiences with newborn quality of care in neonatal intensive care…”, 2026). 718 gap statements have been mined from Infant Development and Preterm Care papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 4,499 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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