Journal Article Review

Journal Article Review 1/2 The second article that I chose for this week was relating to the most common population that is seen in the pediatric developmental clinic: premature infants. The article begins with an introduction informing the reader of some statistical information relating to premature births and the costs of hospital stays. In the introduction, the problem is presented, informing the reader that there is a need for interventions that are evidenced-based, to help reduce hospital stays and, in turn, lower hospital costs. The specific intervention being researched is a Premature Infant Oral Motor Intervention (PIOMI) (Lessen, 2011). Oral motor skills are one of the most common underdeveloped skills in premature infants, which can lead to a delay in the ability to coordinate a sufficient suck, swallow, breathe pattern. A detailed background was given to define the term “oral stimulation”, and to describe previous interventions used to stimulate these fine oral motor skills and improve feeding progression in premature infants less than 34 weeks gestation. Some further background discussed other current studies of different intervention plans, but none evaluating infants less than 30 weeks gestation, as this one does. Three hypothesis were stated that were used for conducting the research for this study (Lessen, 2011). The design used to conduct research in this study was a triple-blind experiment. The sample size consisted of 19 “clinically stable” infants of all racial and ethnic backgrounds, who were born between 26 and 29 weeks gestation in the same facility. Exclusion and inclusion criteria were mentioned. The independent variables used were experimental condition and the control condition. The experimental condition was the use of the PIOMI instrument to enhance muscle strength through assisted movements of the lips, cheeks, jaw, and tongue as well as stimulation of the gums and palate. The control condition was not receiving the 5 minute