Oral motor disorder and feeding difficulty during the introduction of complementary feeding in preterm infants

Area of Science:

• Pediatrics
• Neonatology
• Developmental Pediatrics

Background:

• Preterm infants often experience feeding difficulties during complementary feeding.
• Oral-motor skills are crucial for successful feeding.
• Understanding the relationship between oral-motor function and feeding challenges in this population is important.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between oral-motor disorder and feeding difficulty in preterm infants.
• To identify factors contributing to feeding difficulties in this vulnerable group.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, observational study of 62 preterm infants up to 24 months corrected gestational age.
• Feeding difficulty assessed via maternal perception of defensive behaviors.
• Oral motor skills evaluated using an adaptation of the Clinical Evaluation Protocol of Pediatric Dysphagia (PAD-PED).

Main Results:

• No significant association was found between oral motor disorder and feeding difficulty.
• Extreme prematurity was associated with defensive feeding behaviors (p = 0.005).
• Factors like initial liquid food consistency (p = 0.001), prolonged enteral tube feeding (p = 0.044), CPAP use (p = 0.013), and parenteral nutrition (p = 0.039) were linked to feeding difficulties.

Conclusions:

• Oral motor disorder was not significantly associated with feeding difficulty in the studied preterm infants.
• Defensive feeding behaviors in preterm infants are linked to factors such as extreme prematurity and initial feeding characteristics.