The Effects of Cup Feeding and Finger Feeding Techniques on Weight Gain in Preterm Infants Admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit

Background: Weight is one of the main indicators physical growth and brain development in infants, especially preterm infants. Feeding infants an ongoing challenge for those charge feeding with very low birth weights. difficulties premature lead to long hospital stays increased costs. Objectives: This study aimed compare effects cup finger techniques on weight gain Methods: randomized clinical trial was conducted 90 average 1784.3 ± 497 g admitted neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) Ali Bin Abi Talib (AS) Hospital located Zahedan, southeast Iran, 2021. The were randomly divided into 3 groups: Cup feeding, control groups (each 30 infants). intervention performed consecutive days without interruption, even holidays each infant. amount frequency infant depended diagnosis a specialist. infant’s recorded before after intervention. Data analysis using SPSS version 22 variance (ANOVA), paired-samples t-test, chi-square test. Results: significantly (P < 0.01) compared group. highest group (109.55 g), followed by (65.8 g) (31.1 g; P = 0.001). ANOVA results suggested that technique most effective gaining achieving independent oral