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Non-nutritive sucking scoring system for preterm newborns
F C B Neiva1, C Leone, C R Leone
1School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, Brazil. flaviacbn@yahoo.com.br
Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|July 24, 2008
Summary
A validated non-nutritive sucking (NNS) scoring system helps determine safe oral feeding for preterm newborns (PTNBs). Speech-language pathologists showed high agreement using this NNS evaluation tool.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pediatric feeding disorders
- Speech-language pathology
Background:
- Oral feeding is crucial for preterm newborns' (PTNBs) development and health.
- Assessing oral feeding readiness in PTNBs can be challenging.
- Non-nutritive sucking (NNS) is an indicator of oral feeding ability.
Purpose of the Study:
- To validate a scoring system for evaluating non-nutritive sucking (NNS) in PTNBs.
- To establish a reliable method for determining oral feeding readiness in PTNBs.
Main Methods:
- A two-phase cohort study involving 28 speech-language pathologists and 51 PTNBs.
- Phase one: Protocol development and content validation of the NNS scoring system by 22 experts.
- Phase two: Evaluation of 51 PTNBs using the validated NNS scoring system by 6 speech-language pathologists.
Main Results:
- The NNS scoring system criteria were selected with 80% agreement among experts.
- A 50-point scoring system was proposed, minimizing false positive and negative results for oral feeding ability.
- High inter-rater agreement was observed among speech-language pathologists.
Conclusions:
- A validated NNS scoring system accurately indicates when PTNBs are ready for safe oral feeding.
- The developed system demonstrates high reliability and agreement among speech-language pathologists.
- This tool can aid clinicians in making informed decisions about initiating oral feeding in PTNBs.
