title: The LATCH scoring system and prediction of breastfeeding duration.
abstract: This study aimed to determine whether LATCH scores assessed by professional staff during in-hospital stays are predictive of breastfeeding at 6 weeks. Participants were English-speaking breastfeeding women, 18 years or older, with healthy singletons. LATCH scores were obtained once every 8 hours on day 1 and daily subsequently until discharge. Data were obtained from hospital charts and telephone interviews on day 4 and week 6 postdelivery. At 6 weeks, 188 of 248 (76%) women were contacted and 66.5% were breastfeeding. LATCH scores were higher among women breastfeeding than those who had weaned. Using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves, a score of 9 or above at 16 to 24 hours was the most discriminate of the 5 time periods examined (area under the ROC curve = 0.72). Furthermore, women who met this criterion were 1.7 times more likely to be breastfeeding at 6 weeks than women with lower scores. The LATCH assessment tool is a modest predictor of breastfeeding duration.
authors.affiliation: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI, USA.
authors.forename: Savitri P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mooney
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Wieser
authors.forename: Suzanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Havstad
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D014886:Weaning