Table 6.

Description of analyzed studies on respiratory disorders, according to the PICOS ¹ method.

Study	Participants	Interventions	Comparisons	Outcomes	S. Design
Khalil et al. (2008) [30]	72 children in 2 groups: experimental n = 36 and control; ages 2.5–12	Caffeine benzoate administration: 20 mg/kg IV	Caffeine vs. placebo: presence of adverse respiratory events post-extubation	Caffeine improves respiratory function	Randomized double blind placebo control
Doyle et al. (2010) [31]	70 preterm infants aged 10 days	Caffeine citrate administration: 20 mg/kg	Caffeine vs. placebo: IRM differences	Caffeine improves development of white matter	Randomized placebo control
Gray et al. (2011) [32]	287 infants under 30 WOG2 suffering apnea of prematurity	Caffeine citrate administration: group 1 = 5 mg/kg; group 2 = 20 mg/kg	Low dose vs. high dose: development and cognition study 1 year after; temper study 2 years after.	Caffeine in apnea of prematurity does not affect cognition nor behavior	Multicenter randomized controlled trial
Boia et al. (2014) [33]	84 pre-term infants < 32 WOG 2 and < 1500 g suffering apnea of prematurity	Caffeine citrate administration: 5 mg/kg/day. Theophylline administration: 3 mg/kg/day	Caffeine vs. theophylline: adverse effects	Caffeine causes fewer adverse effects tan theophylline in apnea of prematurity	Retrospective analysis
Doyle et al. (2014) [34]	1433 infants suffering apnea of prematurity and who developed cerebral palsy	Caffeine citrate administration at therapeutics doses; test battery for movement evaluation; Wechsler for preschoolers; primary scale of intelligence III	Caffeine vs. placebo	Caffeine leads to fewer coordination disorders	Randomized and retrospective controlled trial
Khurana et al. (2017) [35]	240 infants aged 18–24 months and corrected apnea of prematurity	Caffeine citrate administration: 20 mg/kg/day. Theophylline administration: 5 mg/kg/day	Caffeine vs. theophylline: cognitive performance	Caffeine in apnea of prematurity improves cognitive performance and reduces motor deficiencies	Randomized and retrospective controlled trial
Mürner-Lavanchy et al. (2018) [36]	870 children; age 11.	Caffeine citrate administration 20 mg/kg	Caffeine vs. no caffeine: intelligence,	Caffeine in apnea of prematurity	Randomized double blind

¹ PICOS = P: participants; I: interventions; C: comparisons; O: outcomes; S: study design. ² WOG = Weeks of gestation.