著者

Atsumi Hiramoto Shu Takagai Kenji J Tsuchiya Katsuaki Suzuki Masatsugu Tsujii Norio Mori

出版者

Japan Brain Science society

雑誌

脳科学誌 (ISSN:13415301)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.43, pp.5-23, 2014-05-30 (Released:2017-06-01)

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Background: Behaviors in infants may predict not only current developmental status but also later neurodevelopmental outcomes. Sucking is one of the earliest observable behaviors in infants. This study aimed to determine whether abnormal sucking behaviors in infants can predict the developmental outcome at 18 months or 3 years of age. Methods: A questionnaire asking abnormal sucking behaviors was used to survey mothers of children who visited one of 4 health centers for the routine 18-month- or 3-year-old health check-up in Japan. At the check-up, children were assessed by public health nurses whether he or she passed for age-appropriate developmental milestones. Results: A total of 472 responses were analyzed. The children were grouped into two groups according to the assessment by public health nurses: in 18-month-old children, 198 were typically developed (TD) and 52 were suspicious of developmental delay (DD); for 3-years-old, 164 were TD and 58 were DD. We found a significant difference in the rate of the lack of smooth suck and rest pattern between TD and DD groups across the two age populations. After controlling provable confounding factors, a logistic regression analysis showed significant association between the developmental delay and lack of smooth suck and rest pattern (P=0.004). Conclusion: The result suggests that the abnormality in suck and rest pattern of sucking in infants might be a predictor of developmental delay at 18-month- and 3-year-old of ages.