Paper
Friday, July 23, 2004
The Impact of Pre-Transplant Nutrition on Growth and Development in Children Awaiting Liver Transplant
Kathleen P. Falkenstein, PHD, CPNP, Nursing, Nursing, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| Learning Objective #1: Understand the effects of nutrition on growth and development in children with chronic liver disease |
| Learning Objective #2: Describe the effects of chronic illness on the family |
The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of nutrition, oral vs. nasogastric, on growth and development in children with biliary atresia who are waiting for a liver transplant. Also examined was how the chronic illness impacted on the family. The subjects were a convenience sample of 24 children with biliary atresia who were awaiting liver transplant. Twelve children received nutrition by mouth only. The other 12 received oral as well as nasogastric feedings. At the time of referral for transplant evaluation, which served as baseline for this study, the ages of the children ranged from 2 to 30 mths. The mean age of those who received oral feedings was 10.6 and 4.6 mths among those who also received NG feedings. A prospective design was implemented to follow the children from their transplant evaluation to 6 months post evaluation. Anthropometrics measurements of length, standard deviation scores for hgt (SDS), wgt, HC, MAC,TSF,and nutritional assessment were recorded bimonthly. Developmental evaluation using the Mullen Scales,were performed at baseline and 6 months later. A family assessment,using the Stein Impact on the Family Scale, was used to evaluate the family’s level of stress at baseline and 6 months post baseline. epeated measures ANOVAS were performed separately on the oral and NG feeding groups to evaluate changes in length, SDS, weight, HC, MAC, TSF and nutritional intake (cal/per/kg/wgt). Both groups demonstrated significant gains over time in hgt, wgt, HC,and MAC.The results of a paired t-test did not show a significant developmental change among the children in the oral feeding group. However,the children in nasogastric group, demonstrated a significant decline in expressive language, and visual reception raw scores. Based on the results of an independent t-test,utilizing the Stein Impact of the Illness scale there were no significance in stress between the two groups
Back to Growing Up With Chronic Illness
Back to 15th International Nursing Research Congress
Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004