The Effect of Transition to Home Care Model on the Outcomes of Premature Infants and Their Parents: A Systematic Review

Background: Preterm infants remain vulnerable after discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), yet the key components of effective hospital-to-home transitional care remain unclear. Objectives: This systematic review synthesized evidence on hospital-to-home transitional care models for preterm infants and identified intervention characteristics associated with post-discharge infant and parental outcomes. Methods: This PRISMA 2020-guided systematic review was registered in PROSPERO (CRD420251011887). The protocol was amended to remove the planned meta-analysis because of substantial heterogeneity. Searches were conducted in EBSCO-MEDLINE, Scopus, PubMed, and the Cochrane Library in March 2025 and updated in March 2026. Quantitative and mixed-method studies evaluating hospital-to-home transitional care for preterm infants were included. Findings were synthesized narratively using a SWiM-based approach. Results: Twenty-one studies were included, comprising 4142 study units across infants, parents/caregivers, or infant–parent dyads. Interventions were initiated during NICU admission, at discharge, or after discharge and commonly included discharge preparation, parental education, telehealth support, and care coordination. Several studies reported favorable outcomes related to infant growth, feeding, length of stay, readmission, healthcare utilization, and parental readiness or caregiving competence, although findings varied across intervention types, study designs, and outcome measures. Three non-comparative studies provided additional evidence on feasibility and acceptability. Conclusions: Hospital-to-home transitional care may benefit preterm infants and their families when delivered as a multicomponent, family-centered pathway extending beyond discharge. However, the evidence remains heterogeneous, and practice implications should be interpreted cautiously. Larger comparative studies using standardized infant-centered outcomes are needed, particularly in low- and middle-income settings.