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Sensorimotor therapy and time to full oral feeding in <33weeks infants
Louma Basma Rustam1, Saadieh Masri2, Nathalie Atallah1
1School of Medicine, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon.
Insights
Sensorimotor therapy significantly reduced the time to full oral feeding in preterm infants born before 33 weeks. Implementing structured guidelines could further enhance these positive outcomes for feeding development.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pediatric feeding therapy
- Developmental pediatrics
Background:
- Oral stimulation is known to improve feeding skills in preterm infants.
- The efficacy of other sensorimotor therapies on feeding in this population is not well-established.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of sensorimotor therapy on the time to achieve full oral feeding (FOF) in infants born before 33 weeks of gestation.
Main Methods:
- A retrospective review compared infants before and after the implementation of sensorimotor therapy.
- Data collected included therapy type, number of sessions, time to FOF, and length of stay (LOS).
- Statistical analyses included descriptive statistics, non-parametric tests, chi-square, and multivariate linear regression.
Main Results:
- Infants receiving sensorimotor therapy achieved FOF faster (6.3 days vs. 8.8 days).
- Any sensorimotor therapy sessions were a significant predictor of decreased time to FOF (β=-4.31).
- Other predictors included length of stay, patent ductus arteriosus, and bradycardia.
Conclusions:
- Sensorimotor therapy effectively decreases the time to achieve full oral feeding in preterm infants (<33 weeks).
- Development of structured guidelines for sensorimotor therapy may optimize feeding outcomes.
Background:
Previous research has shown that oral stimulation improves feeding skills in preterm infants. However, it remains unclear whether other sensorimotor therapies have similar effect.
Objective:
To investigate the effect of sensorimotor therapy on the time to reach full oral feeding (FOF) in infants <33weeks.
Methods:
Retrospective review compared two time periods between 2009 and 2014, before (PRE TX) and after (POST TX) initiation of sensorimotor therapy to infants <33weeks. Type and number of sensorimotor therapy, time to FOF and length of stay (LOS) were collected. Statistical analysis used SPSS 22 for descriptive, non-parametric testing, chi-square and multivariate linear regression computation.
Results:
Of 245 records, 137 were excluded due to death, record unavailability/incompleteness or transfer. The remaining 55 in PRE TX and 53 in POST TX infants differed by small for gestational age (SGA) (36.4% vs. 28.3%, p=0.02); sepsis (81.8% vs. 54.7%, p=0.002); patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) (5.5% vs. 22.6%, p=0.01) and bradycardia (47.3% vs. 83%, p<0.0001). Infants in (POST TX) achieved FOF in 6.3±4.3days vs. 8.8±6.6days in (PRE TX) (p=0.02); their LOS was 56.8±26.4 vs. 52.2±25.1 (p=0.36). Predictors of days to FOF were any number of therapy sessions (β=-4.31; 95% CI: -6.47:-2.15), LOS (β=0.05; 95% CI: 0.004:0.09), PDA (β=3.23; 95% CI: 0.27:6.19) and bradycardia (β=2.94; 95% CI: 0.62:5.26).
Conclusion:
Providing any type of sensorimotor therapy decreased time to reach FOF in infants <33weeks. Structured guidelines may help optimize this effect.
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