title: Premature: growth and its relation to oral skills.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the influence of oral motor skills of premature infants on their oral feeding performance and growth, during neonatal hospitalization.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty-one newborns hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of a hospital in Southern Brazil, between July 2012 and March 2013, were evaluated. The evaluation of oral feeding skills, according to Lau and Smith, was applied after prescription for starting oral feeding. The oral feeding performance was analyzed using the following variables: days taken to start independent oral feeding and hospital discharge. Growth was measured by weight, length, and head circumference, using the curves of Fenton, at birth, first and independent oral feeding, and hospital discharge.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At birth, 71% preterm infants were proper for gestational age, most of them were males (53%), with average of 33.6 (±1.5) weeks of gestational age. The gestational age in the assessment did not influence the oral feeding performance of the premature infant and did not differ between levels. Time of transition from tube feeding to oral feeding and hospital stay was shorter when the oral skills were higher. At birth, there was a tendency of low weight and low oral feeding performance. Level IV premature infants in the release of oral feeding presented higher weights.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The level of oral skills of the premature infant interfered positively on time of feeding transition from tube to independent oral feeding and hospital stay. Growth, represented by weight gain, was not affected by the level of oral skill.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Camila Lehnhart
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Vargas
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Luana Cristina
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Berwig
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Eduardo Matias dos Santos
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Steidl
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Leila Sauer
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Prade
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Geovana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bolzan
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Márcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Keske-Soares
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Santa Maria, RS, BR.
authors.forename: Angela Regina Maciel
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Weinmann
mesh_terms: D001724:Birth Weight; D001903:Bottle Feeding; D001938:Brazil; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005865:Gestational Age; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal; D008297:Male; D013391:Sucking Behavior / Q000502:physiology*