Risks associated with suspected dysphagia in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit in a South African public hospital

dc.contributor.authorSchoeman, Jacoline
dc.contributor.authorKritzinger, Alta M. (Aletta Margaretha)
dc.date.accessioned2018-05-14T11:28:08Z
dc.date.available2018-05-14T11:28:08Z
dc.date.issued2017-06
dc.description.abstractBACKGROUND. The prevalence of neonatal dysphagia is increasing, as medical advances contribute to the survival of critically ill and preterm infants. Additional factors such as low birth weight (LBW), gastro-oesoephageal reflux disorder, failure-to-thrive (FTT), and HIV may increase the complexity of dysphagia symptoms. Knowledge of context-specific risk factors for dysphagia may lead to an effective pathway of diagnosis and management in vulnerable neonates. OBJECTIVE. To describe the feeding characteristics and categories of underlying medical conditions in infants of gestational age 24 - 42 weeks. METHODS. The study was a retrospective review of 231 purposively selected medical and speech-language therapy records. Participants had a mean stay of 28.5 days in a neonatal intensive care unit in a peri-urban public hospital and were referred for a swallowing and feeding assessment. An existing seven-category framework for the classification of suspected dysphagia was used. RESULTS. Most participants (90.0%) presented with multiple medical conditions. Underlying neurological conditions (48.5%) and feeding difficulties secondary to systemic illness (65.8%) contributed mostly to suspected dysphagia in the sample. It was found that 71.0% of infants presented with feeding difficulties secondary to other conditions such as LBW and prematurity, highlighting the need for an expanded dysphagia classification framework. CONCLUSION. The results concur with the outcomes of previous studies and confirm the need for a unique classification framework in South Africa. Dysphagia is a complex condition and frequently cannot be attributed to a single risk factor.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentSpeech-Language Pathology and Audiologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianam2018en_ZA
dc.description.urihttp://www.sajch.org.za/index.php/SAJCHen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationSchoeman, J. & Kritzinger, A. 2017, 'Risks associated with suspected dysphagia in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit in a South African public hospital', South African Journal of Child Health, vol. 11, no. 2, pp. 75-79.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1994-3032 (print)
dc.identifier.issn1999-7671 (online)
dc.identifier.other10.7196/SAJCH.2017.v11i2.1186
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/64943
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherHealth and Medical Publishing Groupen_ZA
dc.rights© 2018 Health and Medical Publishing Group. This open-access article is distributed under Creative Commons licence CC-BY-NC 4.0.en_ZA
dc.subjectInfantsen_ZA
dc.subjectDysphagiaen_ZA
dc.subjectNeonatal intensive care uniten_ZA
dc.subjectPublic hospital, South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectNeonatal dysphagiaen_ZA
dc.subjectLow birth weight (LBW)en_ZA
dc.subjectHuman immunodeficiency virus (HIV)en_ZA
dc.subjectFailure-to-thrive (FTT)en_ZA
dc.subjectGastro-oesoephageal reflux disorderen_ZA
dc.titleRisks associated with suspected dysphagia in infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit in a South African public hospitalen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA

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