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Exploration of the Association Between Sucking Measures and Ability to Attain Independent Oral Feeds Among Infants
Sandra Fucile1, Grace Hennessey2, Suraya Meghji3
1Sandra Fucile, PhD, OT Reg. (Ont), is Assistant Professor, School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada; sandra.fucile@queensu.ca.
Insights
Sucking burst duration in preterm infants is linked to how quickly they achieve independent oral feeding. A longer burst duration may indicate a faster transition, aiding clinical assessment.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal Medicine
- Pediatric Nutrition
- Developmental Pediatrics
Background:
- Preterm infants often struggle with transitioning to oral feeding, prolonging hospitalization.
- Current clinical measures for predicting feeding independence are lacking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify specific nutritive sucking measures that correlate with the time to achieve independent oral feeding in preterm infants.
Main Methods:
- An observational pilot study was conducted in a neonatal intensive care unit.
- Fourteen preterm infants (≤34 weeks gestation) were monitored.
- Nutritive sucking measures (suck strength, burst duration, count, pause) were recorded during initial oral feeds using a nipple monitoring device.
Main Results:
- A significant inverse relationship was observed between average suck burst duration and the time to achieve independent oral feeds.
- Gestational age also showed an inverse association with the time to independent oral feeding.
Conclusions:
- Average suck burst duration, measured early in oral feedings, may serve as a clinical indicator for predicting the time to independent oral feeding in preterm infants.
- This finding highlights the importance of assessing nutritive sucking ability for evaluating feeding progression in this population.
Importance:
Infants who are born preterm often experience difficulty transitioning from full tube to independent oral feeds, which often prolongs their hospital stay. No clinical measures associated with attainment of independent oral feeds are currently available.
Objective:
To identify specific nutritive sucking measures associated with time to attainment of independent oral feeds among infants who are born preterm.
Design:
An observational cohort pilot study was undertaken.
Setting:
A Level 2 to Level 3 neonatal intensive care unit.
Participants:
Fourteen infants (7 male, 7 female) born at or less than 34 wk gestation were enrolled.
Outcomes And Measures:
The monitored suck measures included average suck strength (millimeters of mercury), average sucking burst duration (seconds), average suck count (number of sucks), and average pause duration (seconds). Time to independent oral feeds (days) and baseline characteristics were also monitored. The nutritive sucking measures were recorded once, during the first 5 min of an oral feed, when infants were taking an average of three to four oral feeds per day using a nipple monitoring device.
Results:
An inverse relation was found among average suck burst duration (p = .04), gestational age (p = .03), and days to attainment of independent oral feeds.
Conclusions And Relevance:
Study results suggest that average sucking burst duration, during the first 5 min of an oral feed, is associated with time to attain independent oral feeds. Plain-Language Summary: Sucking burst duration is a simple measure that may be used clinically to identify early on infants who may have trouble transitioning from full tube to independent oral feedings. The results of this study suggest that a suck burst duration in the first 5 min of an oral feeding is inversely associated with the length of time to achieve independent oral feeding. The results highlight the importance of considering an infant's nutritive sucking ability when evaluating their potential to achieve independent oral feedings.
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