Explorative research for the maturation of sucking patterns in preterm infants; follow-up research for the relation with the outcome at tha age of 27 and 48 months with regard to language and mental development.

Recent publications indicate a relation between the development of zuigmotoriek
and the outcome at a later age.
Palmer (1999) followed 18 children bij wie ze na de geboorte de NOMAS had
afgenomen. She saw the children at ages 24-36 months. She employed the Bayley
Scales of Infant Development and the Vineland Social Maturity Scale. All 7
children with a dysfunctional sucking pattern demonstrated a developmental
delay and five demenstrated persistent developmental delay in one or more areas
at 36 months. The 2 children with a normal sucking pattern developed normally.
Of the 9 children with a disorganized sucking pattern, 4 showed a deviant
development at 24 months. The numbers included in this study were small,
however.
Mizuno and Ueda (2005) found a significant relation between the voedinsgedrag
(measured in terms of expression and sucking) of 65 new-born babies (mean
gestational age 37.8 wks {SD 0.5] and the neurological development (measured
with the Bayley Scales of Infant Development II) at 18 months.

Also in the group of *healthy prematures*, many children appear to have a
deviant sucking pattern op de a terme leeftijd. We want to know the
implications of these deviant findings for the later development of the
children in question.
Only recently a language screening instrument has become available, the SNEL
[Spraak- en TaalNormen Eerste Lijns gezondheidszorg) (Luinge, 2005), which is
reliable as well as easy to employ.
The aim of the prospective vervolgonderzoek, is to investigate whether there is
relation between the develpment of sucking patterns in terms of the NOMAS and
the development at later ages. The latter development is measured with the SNEL
and BSID II (Bayley, 1993) at the ages of 24 and 48 months.
Research questions
1. Is there a relation between the NOMAS diagnosis at 40 weeks PMA and the SNEL
score at 24 anden 48 months?
2. Is there a relation between the NOMAS diagnosis at 40 weeks PMA and the
level of development at 24 and 48 months, as measured with the BSD-II?

At the corrected age of two years, the parents of the previously included
children receive a letter which informs them about the vervolgonderzoek and
asks them to consent. When the parents do consent, the SNEL will be assessed by
telephone and the parents themselves are invited to have the BSID-II assessed
in the UMCG.

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