Cleft Palate Craniofac J. 2025 Feb 2:10556656251317594. doi: 10.1177/10556656251317594. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness and parental satisfaction of an at-home weight reporting system for the maintenance of weight stability in infants with cleft lip and/or palate (CLP).
DESIGN: A prospective cohort of infants with CLP was provided an at-home scale to track weekly weights compared to a retrospective cohort of infants with CLP that underwent standard weight checks at routine healthcare appointments.
SETTING: Tertiary care pediatric hospital.
PATIENTS/PARTICIPANTS: Infants from 0 to 3 months of age who presented to a large midwestern Cleft Clinic with a diagnosis of CLP without a secondary major birth difference.
INTERVENTIONS: “Weigh Easy” at-home scale and reporting system.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Weight loss or plateau.
RESULTS: Infants enrolled in the prospective cohort (n = 25) were significantly less likely to have a destabilizing weight loss compared to the retrospective cohort (n = 131) (OR = 0.09, 95% CI = 0.01-0.60, P = .001 at 30 g/day; OR = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.04-0.60, P = .001 at 25 g/day; OR = 0.24, 95% CI = 0.09-0.61, P = .002 at 20 g/day). Over at least 90 days of data collection, the prospective group had a median of 12 weight changes compared to 4 in the retrospective cohort (P < .001). The Parent Satisfaction Survey (n = 17) revealed 94.1% preferred to weigh their child at home with the Weigh Easy Scale compared to commuting to a publicly available scale and 88.2% would recommend the “Weigh Easy” scale to their friends and family.
CONCLUSIONS: Providing parents of infants with CLP with the “Weigh Easy” scale identifies feeding and nutritional needs more quickly than standard weight checks.
PMID:39894925 | DOI:10.1177/10556656251317594
