Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of massage on treating feeding intolerance (FI). Design: A randomized, controlled, prospective clinical trial.Methods: A total of 104 preterm infants whose gestational age between 28 and 34 weeks and birth weight between 1000 and 2000 g with diagnosis of FI were re- cruited. Participants were stratified by birth weight (1000- 1499 g or 1500- 2000 g) and randomized to either the intervention group, who will receive 7 days of massage, or the control group. The primary outcome is the time to reach full enteral nutrition. Secondary outcomes include duration of FI, change of body index, length of hospitalization, change of gastric residual volume, abdomen circumference and defecation measurement before and after 7 days of intervention.Results: Results of this study, which includes index on FI and physical development, have the potential to provide evidence that massage will alleviate symptoms of FI, and contribute to the long -term positive outcome of preterm infants.

Speech sound disorder (SSD) is common in childhood and can persist, adversely affecting language, literacy, and social functioning. Yet consonant error patterns in school-age children, particularly in non-English-speaking populations, remain insufficiently characterized. Short-term memory (STM) supports phonological processing and speech learning, but its relationship with SSD severity in school-age children is not well established. This study profiles consonant errors and short-term memory in school-age Chinese children with SSD and examines short-term memory correlates and predictors of disorder severity to inform targeted interventions. A total of 142 Mandarin-speaking school-age children with SSD were recruited. For the short-term memory analyses, we randomly selected 70 children with SSD and recruited 70 typically developing controls. Speech was assessed using a word-level picture-naming task to derive consonant accuracy and characterize error types/patterns, and short-term memory was measured with the WISC-IV Digit Span (forward and backward). Substitutions predominated for most consonants, and individual phonemes often exhibited co-occurring error patterns. In addition, school-age children with SSD showed significantly poorer short-term memory than typically developing peers across multiple indices. Notably, backward digit span was positively associated with consonant accuracy and remained an independent predictor of consonant accuracy. These results advance our understanding of the mechanisms underlying SSD and provide an evidence-based rationale for future interventions that combine speech-focused therapy with cognitive training to enhance clinical outcomes.

Introduction: Family functioning is a critical factor linked to child outcomes in neurodevelopmental disorders but remains unstudied in Mowat–Wilson syndrome (MWS), a rare condition with substantial caregiver burden. This study characterized family functioning in MWS and identified factors associated with family functioning. Materials and Methods: We employed a cross-sectional survey in a cohort of 42 patients with MWS. Family functioning was assessed using the Family Assessment Device (FAD). Clinical and behavioral characteristics included intellectual disability, adaptive functioning, autism spectrum disorder (ASD)-related behaviors, and CBCL-derived domains of social, emotional, and sleep-related concerns. Results: Among 42 children (mean age 4.9 years), severe/profound intellectual disability and adaptive deficits were common. Difficulties in family functioning were frequently reported. The highest proportions of scores above the published cut-off were observed in behavior control (90.5%) and affective involvement (76.2%). Higher monthly household income was independently associated with better general family functioning (β = −0.443, p = 0.008), whereas child age, intellectual disability severity, and adaptive impairment were not significantly associated with general functioning scores. Poorer general functioning was associated with higher scores on the CBCL-derived depressive symptom domain. Conclusions: Caregivers of children with MWS commonly reported difficulties in family functioning; behavior control was most affected, followed by affective involvement. Higher household income was independently associated with better general family functioning, suggesting that household income is an important socioeconomic correlate of family functioning.