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Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment scale: a reliability study
M M Palmer1, K Crawley, I A Blanco
1Department of Pediatrics, University of California-San Francisco School of Medicine.
Insights
Feeding difficulties are common in neonatal intensive care units. A new Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale helps categorize disorganized and dysfunctional sucking patterns in infants.
Area of Science:
- Neonatology
- Pediatric feeding disorders
- Infant oral-motor function
Background:
- Feeding problems are prevalent in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) due to increased survival rates of medically fragile infants.
- Existing descriptions of neonatal oral-motor feeding patterns are insufficient.
- Understanding these patterns is crucial for improving infant nutrition and development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a clinical assessment tool for categorizing oral-motor patterns in neonatal feeding.
- To describe disorganized and dysfunctional sucking patterns in neonates.
- To establish interrater reliability for the assessment scale.
Main Methods:
- A clinical assessment tool, the Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale, was devised.
- The scale assesses 13 jaw and 13 tongue movement characteristics.
- The scale was administered to 40 infants to test reliability and refine the tool.
Main Results:
- The Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale categorizes jaw and tongue movements as normal, disorganized, or dysfunctional.
- Interrater reliability was established and the scale was revised.
- The study provided further qualification and description of disorganized and dysfunctional sucking patterns.
Conclusions:
- The Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale offers a standardized method for evaluating neonatal oral-motor feeding skills.
- This tool aids in identifying and understanding specific feeding challenges in neonates.
- Further research can utilize this scale to improve interventions for infant feeding problems.
Abstract:
Feeding problems are frequently encountered in the neonatal intensive care unit as a result of the survival of greater numbers of preterm, medically fragile, and chronically ill infants. Such feeding problems have not, however, been well described. In an attempt to categorize the oral-motor patterns that underlie poor feeding in the neonatal period, a clinical assessment tool was devised that describes jaw and tongue function during nutritive sucking. The Neonatal Oral-Motor Assessment Scale separates 13 characteristics of jaw movement and 13 characteristics of tongue movement into categories of normal, disorganized, and dysfunctional. This scale was administered to 40 infants to establish interrater reliability, revise the scale as necessary based on the reliability, and attempt to further qualify and describe patterns of disorganized and dysfunctional sucking in the neonatal period.