Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 3, 2026
Author Spotlight: Implications of Non-Nutritive Sucking on Speech Emergence and Infant Development
Published on: April 19, 2024
Association of uncoordinated sucking pattern with developmental outcome in premature infants: a retrospective
You Gyoung Yi1, Byung-Mo Oh1, Seung Han Shin2
1Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehak-ro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Republic of Korea.
Insights
Uncoordinated sucking and swallowing and respiration (SSR) in premature infants is linked to poorer cognitive development. Early intervention is recommended for infants showing SSR incoordination before 40 weeks postmenstrual age.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal development
- Pediatric neurology
- Developmental pediatrics
Background:
- Premature infants often exhibit stress signals during feeding, attributed to disorganized sucking, swallowing, and respiration (SSR).
- The link between uncoordinated SSR patterns and long-term developmental outcomes in premature infants remains under-investigated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between uncoordinated sucking patterns during bottle-feeding in premature infants and their developmental outcomes.
- To assess cognitive development at 8-12 and 18-24 months corrected for prematurity.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of medical records and Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS) video recordings of premature infants.
- Categorization of infants into groups based on the presence or absence of sucking incoordination.
- Comparison of Bayley-III cognitive composite scores between the two groups at specified ages.
Main Results:
- Seventy premature infants showed disorganized sucking patterns.
- Infants with uncoordinated sucking had significantly lower Bayley-III cognitive scores at 8-12 months (92.5 vs 103.0, p=0.002) and 18-24 months (90.0 vs 100.7, p=0.005).
- Uncoordinated sucking, severe intraventricular hemorrhage, and bronchopulmonary dysplasia independently predicted poorer cognitive development at 18-24 months.
Conclusions:
- Uncoordinated sucking patterns in premature infants are independently associated with an increased risk of cognitive developmental delays.
- Early developmental follow-up and intervention are crucial for premature infants exhibiting SSR incoordination.
- NOMAS stress signals may indicate a need for closer monitoring of neurodevelopmental trajectories.
Background:
Stress signals during sucking activity such as nasal flaring, head turning, and extraneous movements of the body have been attributed to incoordination of sucking, swallowing, and respiration (SSR) in premature infants. However, the association of uncoordinated sucking pattern with developmental outcomes has not yet been investigated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether uncoordinated sucking pattern during bottle-feeding in premature infants is associated with the developmental outcomes at 8-12 and 18-24 months of age (corrected for prematurity).
Methods:
We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and video recordings for the Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS) of premature infants and divided them into two groups based on the presence or absence of incoordination. The Bayley-III cognition composite scores of the incoordination-positive and incoordination-negative group were compared at 8-12 and 18-24 months of age.
Results:
Seventy premature infants exhibited a disorganized sucking pattern according to the NOMAS. The average Bayley-III cognition composite scores at 8-12 months of age were 92.5 ± 15.6 and 103.0 ± 11.3 for the incoordination-positive (n = 22) and incoordination-negative groups (n = 48), respectively (p = 0.002). The average Bayley-III cognition composite scores at 18-24 months were 90.0 ± 17.9 and 100.7 ± 11.5 for the incoordination-positive (n = 21) and incoordination-negative groups (n = 46), respectively (p = 0.005). A multiple linear regression analysis indicated that the presence of uncoordinated sucking pattern, grade 3 or 4 germinal matrix hemorrhage-intraventricular hemorrhage, and moderate to severe bronchopulmonary dysplasia were independently associated with cognitive development at 18-24 months of age.
Conclusions:
Uncoordinated sucking pattern in premature infants was independently associated with a higher risk of abnormal developmental outcome in the cognitive domain of the Bayley-III at both 8-12 and 18-24 months. There may be a need for periodic follow-up and early intervention for developmental delay when incoordination of SSR that results in stress signals on the NOMAS is observed before 40 weeks postmenstrual age.
More Related Videos
07:11Assessment of the Efficacy of An Osteopathic Treatment in Infants with Biomechanical Impairments to Suckling
Published on: February 5, 2019
05:04A Common Marmoset Model of Mother-Infant Intervention for Breastfeeding Disorders in the Presence of Paternal Inhibition and Maternal Neglect
Published on: September 22, 2023
Related Concept Videos
01:20Attachment
01:25Suctioning the Oropharyngeal Airway
After assembling the equipment, the nurse should practice hand hygiene and don appropriate PPE according to infection control guidelines to avoid the...
01:29Suctioning the Nasopharyngeal Airway
Equipment Required
01:16Psychosexual Stages of Personality: Oral
Weaning, typically occurring...