Impact of Implementing Reach Out and Read in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Developmental Promotion in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; A New Shared Reading Program

This is a pre/post quasi-interventional study with two arms. First, a baseline cohort of parent-infant dyads admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) were enrolled and surveyed at three timepoints (admission, discharge, and one-month post-discharge) to characterize baseline habits, attitudes, and barriers toward shared reading in the NICU in the absence of a shared reading program. Reach Out and Read (ROR) in the NICU, a shared reading program modified from the national ROR outpatient program to the NICU setting was then implemented. Following program implementation, a subsequent cohort of parent-infant dyads admitted to the NICU were enrolled (the "ROR" cohort) and surveyed at the same three timepoints. Feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of ROR NICU to promote shared reading in the NICU were evaluated.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Parent; Neonates or Premature Babies; NICU Infants; Reading
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Shared reading program

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 101
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oregon
    • Portland, Oregon, United States, 97239
      • Oregon Health & Science University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Parent-infant dyads were recruited with the following criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

• New neonatal admission to the NICU at less than or equal to 14 days old
• Estimated length of stay 2 weeks or longer
• English or Spanish speaking

Exclusion Criteria:

• Nonviable neonates or those with uncertain viability
• Families with discontinuous social situations or parent/infant separation

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: Non-Randomized
• Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: ROR (Reach Out and Read) Cohort; Parent-infant dyads in this group received children's books paired with anticipatory guidance on shared reading every two weeks during the infant's NICU stay.	Other: Shared reading program; Reach Out and Read in the NICU (ROR NICU) was implemented. All infants admitted to the NICU receive a book paired with education/anticipatory guidance on shared reading every two weeks during their NICU admission.
No Intervention: Baseline, Pre-ROR (before Reach Out and Read) Cohort; Baseline cohort of parent-infant dyads not exposed to the shared reading program Reach Out and Read in the NICU

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rate of regular reading	Parent-reported frequency of shared reading (days/week) in the last week with "regular reading" defined as at least 3 times per week.	Time point 1: baseline. Time point 2: average 6 weeks after baseline. Time point 3: 4 weeks after time point 2

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Proportion of eligible infants who received the intervention	This is a program fidelity measure assessing how many infants admitted to and discharged from the NICU received the intervention (defined as receiving a book paired with education about shared reading)	After infant discharge, average of 6 weeks from baseline.
Program acceptability	Survey questions exploring parent experience of the program and an "Acceptability of Intervention Measure" 4-item scaled score (likert scale 1-5) from Weiner et al 2017.	Time point 1: baseline. Time point 2: average 6 weeks after baseline. Time point 3: 4 weeks after time point 2
Frequency of intervention per patient (fidelity to the model)	The frequency and timing of when each ROR cohort infant received a book during admission was tracked	After infant discharge, average of 6 weeks from baseline

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Catherine Caruso
• Collaborators: Academic Pediatric Association

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 18, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): June 5, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): June 5, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 16, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): April 6, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 13, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 6, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: interventional; neonatal intensive care unit; educational intervention; infant development; shared reading; relational health
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Obstetric Labor, Premature; Obstetric Labor Complications; Pregnancy Complications; Premature Birth
• Other Study ID Numbers: 00022938

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No