Purpose: To determine whether nonnutritive sucking (NNS) in preterm infants influences selected outcome variables.
Design: A systematic review, based on the Cochrane Collaboration format, of trials utilizing experimental or quasi-experimental designs in which NNS (by pacifier) was compared to no provision of NNS; related to naso/orogastric tube feedings, bottle feedings, or not associated with feeding.
Sample: All infants born at < 37 weeks gestation. This review consisted of 19 studies; 13 were randomized controlled trials. Sample sizes ranged from 10 to 59 infants and totaled 518 infants.
Main outcome variable: Weight gain, energy intake, heart rate, oxygen saturation, length of hospital stay, intestinal transit time, and postconceptional age at full oral feedings.
Results: NNS significantly decreased the length of hospital stay in preterm infants. The review did not reveal a consistent benefit of NNS with respect to other major clinical variables. No negative outcomes were reported in any of the studies.