Introduction: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of Beckman oral stimulation program on the time to achieve independent oral feeding in preterm infants.
Materials and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, 21 preterm infants, whose gestational ages ranged from 26 to 32 weeks and were hospitalized in Kamali Hospital NICU (Karaj- Iran), were chosen according to inclusionary and exclusionary criteria. They were randomly assigned either to a control group or Beckman prefeeding oral stimulation program. Considering the high importance of continued practice in this prefeeding oral stimulation program, the researcher individually implemented this program for each infant allocated to the experimental group for 10 successive days. The subjects in experimental and control groups were compared on these variables: 1- chronological and gestational age at various oral feeding times and at discharge from NICU; 2- weight gained during the first and the second postnatal weeks; and 3- the discharge time from NICU.
Results: Average chronological age at 8 oral feeding times was 18.2±9.1 days (mean±SD) in Beckman group and 24.27±10.42 days in control group. Therefore, the subjects in experimental group reached to the criteria 6.07 days sooner than the other group. The difference can be considered as a clinically important achievement. The mean chronological age at discharge time from hospital in Beckman group and control groups were 27.6±12.57 and 33.45±13.46 days respectively. That is, the experimental group discharged 5.85 days sooner from hospital, which is a clinically important benefit.
Conclusion: The results of this pilot study implicate the need for more investigation on the efficacy of Beckman prefeeding oral stimulation program. Meanwhile, the program seems to increase oral feeding skills and decrease the length of hospitalization in NICU.