EFFECTS OF HAMMOCK POSITIONING ON CLINICAL PARAMETERS IN PRETERM INFANTS ADMITTED TO A NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Objective: To review the effects of the hammock positioning on clinical parameters of preterm newborn infants (PTNB) admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Data sources: This was a systematic review performed by searching the Pubmed, Lilacs, SciELO and PEDro databases. Intervention studies in English, Portuguese and Spanish that evaluated the effects of hammock positioning on clinical parameters of PTNB admitted to the NICU were selected. Three search strategies were used: 1) hammock positioning OR patient positioning AND intensive care units AND infant, newborn; 2) hammock positioning OR patient positioning AND intensive care units; 3) hammock positioning OR patient positioning AND intensive care units, neonatal. There was no restriction on the year of publication of the articles. Methodological quality was assessed by the PEDro scale. Data synthesis: Among 597 articles, only six were included and 139 neonates with gestational ages between 26 and 37 weeks and an average gestational weight