ABSTRACT
The purposes of this research were to describe the accuracy of test-weighing with the BabyWeigh, a new infant scale suitable for use in the home, and to determine whether mothers and investigators could estimate intake accurately during breastfeeding sessions, using clinical cues that are recommended for this purpose. Within five days of projected NICU discharge, 30 preterm and/or high risk infants and their mothers were studied during a single breastfeeding session. A member of the research team performed test-weights with the Smart Model 20 infant scale, and mothers performed test-weights with the BabyWeigh scale. The mothers and investigators each estimated volume of intake for the breastfeeding session using clinical cues. Mothers and investigators were blind to each others' test-weights and clinical estimates. Results revealed that the BabyWeigh scale provided an accurate estimate of intake during breastfeeding across a large range of infant weights and intake volumes. In contrast, investigator and maternal estimates of intake were not sufficiently accurate.
Subject(s)
Anthropometry/instrumentation , Body Weight , Breast Feeding , Home Nursing/methods , Infant, Premature/growth & development , Adult , Evaluation Studies as Topic , Humans , Infant, Newborn , Reproducibility of ResultsABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to examine the concurrent validity of the Whitney strain gage for the measurement of nutritive sucking in preterm infants. Ten preterm infants were studied continuously during at least one entire bottle feeding per week, from admission into the study until discharge from the nursery. Sucking was measured simultaneously by an adapted nipple and the Whitney gage. The two instruments were compared on the following measures: number of sucking bursts, number of sucks per burst, and duration of bursts and pauses between bursts. Total percent agreement for the occurrence of a sucking burst was 99.3% (K = .99). Sucks per burst varied from 2 to 113, with 89.3% of the pairs of sucking bursts differing by < or = 1 suck per burst. The mean absolute difference between the two instruments for the duration of sucking bursts and pauses was .64 s and .72 s, respectively. These results demonstrate the concurrent validity of the Whitney gage for measurement of sucking events in preterm infants.