(P18-048-23) Improvement of Oral Skills in Children With Early Eating Behavior Disorders and Tube Dependency After Completion of an Intensive Therapy Program: A Prospective Cohort Study

Objectives: The development of oral skills is a complex, bio-psychosocial process, involving the child, their developmental status, nutritional variables, and other factors. Early eating behavior disorders (EEBD) include limited food intake, food refusal, and selective eating behaviors. Tube dependency (TD) is an unintended side-effect of long-term tube feeding, often leading to oral aversion, lack of hunger, vomiting, and food refusal. Children in both groups benefit from therapy to address these concerns and ensure adequate nutritional intake for growth and development. The objective of this study was to assess oral skills of children with TD or EEBD before and after participation in an interdisciplinary therapy program in order to evaluate efficacy and efficiency of the program.

Methods: This prospective case series study utilized data collected between March 2018 and April 2019. Children participated in an interdisciplinary feeding program often referred to as the “Graz Model” in an on-site or telehealth setting. Parents completed the standardized Pediatric Assessment Scale for Severe Feeding Problems (PASSFP) prior to and immediately after conclusion of the program. Paired sample t-tests were conducted to examine pre-to-post changes in oral skills.

Results: After the application of the inclusion and exclusion criteria, data of 83 (from 117) were analyzed (70.9%; Drop Out=29.1%). 16 children (19.3%) had no feeding tube but did have an early eating behavior disorder (EEBD) and 67 children (80.7%) were tube dependent. After completion of the program, a statistically significant improvement in oral skills was present in both groups. PASSFP scores in the EEBD group indicated a 14.43% (p .01) improvement whereas children in tube dependence (TD) group improved by 93.73% (p < .01) in oral skills. It is important to note that children in the EEBD group started the program with significantly better oral skills than children in the TD group and that children in both groups improved oral skills sufficiently to sustain oral nutritional intake.

Conclusions: Results of this study demonstrated that oral skills in children with TD and EEBD improved significantly through participation in the child-led approach of the “Graz model” interdisciplinary feeding program.

Funding Sources: No funding source to disclose