Long-term implications of a multidisciplinary tube-weaning program: Parental perspectives
Judith N Blinder1, Tal Dror1, Patrice L Weiss2,3
1Communications Department ALYN Hospital Jerusalem Israel.
Insights
Most children successfully transition to independent oral feeding after a specialized tube-weaning program. This study highlights positive long-term outcomes in eating ability and social participation for children receiving enteral nutrition support.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Rehabilitation
- Nutritional Support
- Swallowing and Feeding Disorders
Background:
- Children unable to eat orally require enteral nutrition support via tube feeding.
- Transitioning from tube feeding to oral intake is a critical developmental milestone.
- Pediatric rehabilitation centers play a key role in managing complex feeding needs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe a tube-weaning program for children at a rehabilitation hospital.
- To evaluate the long-term outcomes of transitioning from tube nutrition to oral feeding.
- To assess parental satisfaction and child's well-being post-weaning.
Main Methods:
- A telephone survey was conducted with parents of children who participated in an intervention program (2011-2022).
- Data collected included the child's current eating status, education, social well-being, and overall health.
- Parents provided feedback on their experience with the tube-weaning program and ongoing support needs.
Main Results:
- Parents of 35 children responded, reporting high satisfaction with their child's eating (4.7/5).
- Few parents reported significant impact on family mealtimes (2.1/5).
- Younger age at weaning correlated with lower parental concern regarding current eating ability.
Conclusions:
- The tube-weaning program demonstrated success in facilitating long-term independent eating.
- Children achieved good nutritional status and social participation around mealtimes.
- Despite initial complexities, the intervention led to positive long-term outcomes.
Objectives:
Children who are unable to eat and drink orally require temporary or permanent enteral nutritional support via tube feeding. The objective was to describe a weaning program held at a children's rehabilitation hospital and to review the long-term outcomes of the transition from tube nutrition to oral feeding.
Methods:
The parents of 82 children who took part in the ALYN intervention program from 2011 to 2022 were requested to participate in a telephone survey to learn about their child's status related to eating, education, social wellbeing, and overall health. They also provided feedback concerning their experience with the tube-weaning program and their current reliance on support for eating-related issues.
Results:
The parents of 35 (39%) children responded. Their mean ± SD age at the time of treatment were 2.1 ± 1.76, and the mean ± SD age at the time of the survey 8.85 ± 3.96 years. Their mean current zBMI is -0.7. Overall, parents were very satisfied with the child's eating (4.7 out of 5) ± 0.7, and few reported that the child's eating affected the family mealtime routine (2.1 out of 5) ± 1.3. The children's age at weaning was significantly correlated with parental reports of concern with the child's current eating ability, with younger ages at weaning associated with lower parental concern.
Conclusions:
The data demonstrated that despite the complexity of the participants, most children succeed in achieving long-term independent eating, good nutritional status, and social participation around mealtimes.
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