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Updated: Oct 16, 2025
Assessment and Evaluation of the High Risk Neonate: The NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale
Published on: August 25, 2014
Application of the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale to Evaluate the Neurobehavior of Preterm Neonates
Roksana Malak1, Brittany Fechner1, Dorota Sikorska1
1Department and Clinic of Rheumatology, Rehabilitation, and Internal Medicine, Poznań University of Medical Sciences, 61-545 Poznań, Poland.
Background:
The neonatal behavioral assessment scale (NBAS) was primarily developed to aid in the assessment of full-term neonates. The aim of this study was to detect if the NBAS was also valuable in the assessment of preterm neonates.
Materials And Methods:
We assessed 112 infants at a neonatal unit using the NBAS, 4th edition. The inclusion criteria included an oxygen saturation level between 88-95% and a heartrate of 100-205 beats per minute. Infant neurobehavior was assessed using the NBAS.
Results:
For full-term and preterm neonates, we observed that the NBAS enabled us to assess both groups of infants and gave relevant information pertaining to them. We found a significant correlation between the average week of gestation and response to touch, sensory input, peak of excitement, cost of attention, hand-to-mouth, and quality of alertness.
Conclusions:
The NBAS is a valuable scale for evaluating the neurobehavior of preterm neonates. The week of gestation at birth affects certain aspects of neurobehavior, such as response to sensory input, putting hand to mouth, peak of excitement, and cost of attention. The NBAS as an individually structured assessment may help in planning for early rehabilitation and intervention for this vulnerable population.
