Evaluation of the Effect of Preterm Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI) on Oral Feeding Skills, Weight Gain, and Duration of Hospital Stay in Preterm Infants: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

AimThe study aimed to evaluate the effect of Preterm Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI) on oral feeding skills, weight gain, and duration of hospital stay in preterm infants.MethodsThis systematic review was conducted in accordance with the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews and reported according to the PRISMA flow diagram. The literature review was carried out over articles published in English in PubMed, Web of Science, Science Direct, Ovid, Cochrane, Springer Link, Wiley Online Library, EBSCO, and Google Academic databases. There was no time limitation in the data review, and 11 articles were included in the study.ResultsIn our study, it was determined that the transition time to first oral and full oral feeding was shorter, Preterm Oral Feeding Readiness Scale (POFRAS) scores were higher, postmenstrual age in full oral feeding was lower and weight gain was higher in preterm infants who were applied PIOMI. In addition, it was determined that preterm infants who were applied PIOMI switched to full oral feeding at lower weights and had a shorter hospital stay.ConclusionThis study revealed that PIOMI positively affected the duration of transition to oral nutrition, oral nutrition skills, weight gain, and duration of hospital stay in preterm infants. However, considering that PIOMI may be affected by clinical and cultural practices, there is a need to conduct randomized controlled experimental studies with a large sample size in which the effectiveness of PIOMI is tested by standardizing the frequency and duration of application in newborns with more homogeneous characteristics in terms of age and weight.