Characterization of feeding skills and clinical markers of preterm newborns with gastroschisis in a neonatal therapy unit.
Fernanda Chiarion Sassi, Ana Paula Ritto, Daniela Chiarion Sassi and 5 others
PMID 37610924WHAT IT FOUND
Preterm infants with gastroschisis required significantly longer speech therapy and hospital stays than controls.
Gastroschisis diagnosis, invasive mechanical ventilation, and poor intraoral pressure were key markers predicting prolonged feeding therapy.
Key findings
01Infants with gastroschisis had significantly longer hospital stays and required more time from initial speech therapy assessment to discharge compared to healthy preterm controls.
02Gastroschisis diagnosis, use of invasive mechanical ventilation, and absence of adequate intraoral pressure during the first sucking assessment were independent risk factors for prolonged speech therapy (more than 7 days).
03In the multivariate analysis, adequate intraoral pressure was a protective factor, reducing the chance of prolonged speech therapy by 33%.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study was retrospective and conducted at a single institution, meaning the specific NICU protocols for feeding initiation and speech therapy referral may limit generalizability to other settings. The sample size was small (25 per group), and the wide confidence intervals in the logistic regression (e.g., OR 3.477, 95% CI 0.663-18.247 for gastroschisis) suggest imprecision in the effect estimates despite statistical significance.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that gastroschisis alone determines feeding outcomes; the study shows that the severity of the condition, specifically the need for invasive ventilation and poor intraoral pressure, drives the duration of therapy. Also, the 'positive' finding refers to the identification of risk markers, not that the therapy itself was shown to be more effective than in controls.