Phys Occup Ther Pediatr. 2022 Oct 4:1-14. doi: 10.1080/01942638.2022.2128973. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
AIM: To systematically review evidence of the effectiveness of sticky mittens training to improve reaching skills and manual exploration of full-term and at-risk infants and optimal training dosage.
METHODS: The Cochrane Collaboration and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guided this systematic review. The electronic search was performed from September 2017 to August 2021 on PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Cochrane databases. Eligibility criteria followed PICO terms: clinical trials investigating the effects of sticky mittens training on reaching skills and manual exploration of full-term and at-risk infants. PEDro scale and GRADE assessed methodological quality and quality of evidence, respectively.
RESULTS: Eight studies (313 children) were included. Five studies found statistically significant differences between experimental and control groups (62.6%). One study presented high methodological quality. Evidence synthesis showed very low and low evidence of the beneficial effects of sticky mittens training in full-term and at-risk infants, respectively.
CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that sticky mittens training facilitates reaching skills and manual exploration. However, results should interpretation with caution because studies targeted full-term infants. Future research should focus on infants at risk or with motor impairments since sticky mittens training seems to show positive effects and is easy to apply.
PMID:36195977 | DOI:10.1080/01942638.2022.2128973
