Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between infant non-nutritive suck (NNS) dynamics at 3 months and developmental outcomes at 12 months of age in full-term infants. We hypothesized that infants with more mature NNS at 3 months, as evidence by shorter burst duration, fewer cycles per burst, cycles per minute, higher amplitude, and more bursts, would have higher (better) scores on the developmental outcomes at 12 months. METHODS: This was a prospective study that utilized objective and self-report measures. A five-minute NNS sample was collected from 67 infants (54% male) at 3 months of age (average age 2.99 (0.27) months). At 12 months (average age 11.91 (0.26) months), the Development Profile-3 was administered through caregiver interview. RESULTS: Infant NNS burst duration, cycles per burst, and cycles per minute were significantly negatively associated with the Development Profile-3 cognitive domain and general scores at 12 months. This is consistent with our hypothesis that infants who have more efficient NNS (fewer bursts and cycles) at 3 months would have higher (better) scores on the Development Profile-3 at 12 months. CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this work complement emerging research linking infant NNS with subsequent neurodevelopmental outcomes. This is the first time that these associations have been examined using a quantitative and physiologic-based measure of NNS. These results seem to indicate that specific NNS metrics, which demonstrate maturation of this complex skill, may be useful predictors of neurodevelopment later in life.