Examining Health Conditions, Impairments, and Quality of Life for Pediatric Feeding Disorders.
Meg Simione, Stephanie Harshman, Christine E Cooper-Vince and 4 others
PMID 35486189WHAT IT FOUND
Children with feeding disorders had worse quality of life than those with kidney transplants or acute liver failure.
Most had neurologic or genetic conditions, or no known diagnosis, with sensory issues and limited volume being the most common impairments.
Key findings
01Children with feeding disorders had a statistically significant poorer quality of life compared to children who have had a kidney transplant or pediatric acute liver failure.
02The most common medical diagnoses were neurologic or genetic disorders (38%) and no known medical diagnoses (34%).
03The most common feeding impairments were oral sensory processing dysfunction (38%) and limited volume (30%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study lacked a control group for comparing caregiver impact and quality of life directly within the same sample. The sample size (n=50) prevented statistical comparison between different medical diagnosis or impairment subgroups. The distribution of diagnoses and impairments reflects the specific population at one center and may not represent all children with feeding disorders. Only English-speaking children who consumed some food orally were included.
Declared interests
The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the comparison to other conditions as a ranking of severity or a recommendation for treatment intensity. The quality of life differences were based on comparing this study's mean scores to published means from other studies, not on a head-to-head trial, and the lack of a concurrent control group limits causal inference.