The study of oral feeding disorders incidence in infants in NICU of Tehran University of medical sciences hospitals

Back ground and

Feeding is the most essential behavior in infants for vitality, learning and interaction. Because of feeding importance in developmental process and its primary role in infant’s vitality, the study of dysphagia has an important role. Diagnosis, assessment and treatment of this disorder are primary professional action for speech therapists. Therefore, basic information about prevalence of such disorders can be effective in treatment planning. In this study, the number of infants with oral feeding disorders is determined in NICU.

In this descriptive-sectional study, all infants that were in NICU at Tehran University of medical sciences hospitals were evaluated in three first months of 1390 year through information from medical history, interview and observation. The data were analyzed with SPSS 16.

Data analyzing of this study showed that 45 infants (27.10%) from 166 cases in NICU had oral feeding disorders. The incidence in male is more than female (91.11% versus 8.88%). Twenty two of cases feed normally, 18 cases feeding with NGT and 5 cases with OGT. The rate of difficulty in oral phase and esophageal phase were 88.88% and 2.22% respectively. No infants have difficulty in Pharyngeal phase.

Feeding disorder assessment by speech therapist provides essential information about feeding intervention and so early diagnosis can prevent later speech problems. Therefore, the role of a speech therapist in NICU is important.