Premature: growth and its relation to oral skills
Camila Lehnhart Vargas1, Luana Cristina Berwig1, Eduardo Matias dos Santos Steidl1
1Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
Insights
Higher oral motor skills in premature infants significantly shorten the time to independent oral feeding and hospital stay. However, oral skills did not impact infant weight gain during hospitalization.
Area of Science:
- Neonatology
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Premature infants often face challenges with oral feeding due to underdeveloped oral motor skills.
- Effective oral feeding is crucial for growth and timely hospital discharge in neonates.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess how the oral motor skills of premature infants influence their ability to feed orally and their overall growth during neonatal intensive care.
- To determine the relationship between oral motor skill levels and feeding transition times and hospital length of stay.
Main Methods:
- Evaluated 51 premature infants in a neonatal intensive care unit using the Lau and Smith oral feeding skills assessment.
- Analyzed time to independent oral feeding and hospital discharge.
- Measured infant growth (weight, length, head circumference) using Fenton's growth charts.
Main Results:
- Premature infants with higher oral motor skills transitioned from tube feeding to oral feeding and were discharged sooner.
- Gestational age at assessment did not significantly affect oral feeding performance.
- Infant weight at birth showed a tendency towards lower levels with poorer oral feeding performance, while Level IV infants at discharge had higher weights.
Conclusions:
- The level of oral motor skills positively impacts the transition to independent oral feeding and reduces hospital stay duration for premature infants.
- Weight gain during hospitalization was not significantly influenced by the infant's level of oral motor skills.
Objective:
To evaluate the influence of oral motor skills of premature infants on their oral feeding performance and growth, during neonatal hospitalization.
Methods:
Fifty-one newborns hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Southern Brazil, between July 2012 and March 2013, were evaluated. The evaluation of oral feeding skills, according to Lau and Smith, was applied after prescription for starting oral feeding. The oral feeding performance was analyzed using the following variables: days taken to start independent oral feeding and hospital discharge. Growth was measured by weight, length, and head circumference, using the curves of Fenton, at birth, first and independent oral feeding, and hospital discharge.
Results:
At birth, 71% preterm infants were proper for gestational age, most of them were males (53%), with average of 33.6 (±1.5) weeks of gestational age. The gestational age in the assessment did not influence the oral feeding performance of the premature infant and did not differ between levels. Time of transition from tube feeding to oral feeding and hospital stay was shorter when the oral skills were higher. At birth, there was a tendency of low weight and low oral feeding performance. Level IV premature infants in the release of oral feeding presented higher weights.
Conclusion:
The level of oral skills of the premature infant interfered positively on time of feeding transition from tube to independent oral feeding and hospital stay. Growth, represented by weight gain, was not affected by the level of oral skill.
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