Failure to Thrive Etiology and In-Hospital Weight Gain

Investigators from Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and Children’s Hospital Association conducted a retrospective observational study to evaluate the association of in-hospital weight gain with etiologies of failure to thrive (FTT) among hospitalized children. Children <2 years old with a first-time hospitalization for FTT at the study institution between 2009 and 2012 were eligible. ICD-9 codes and manual chart review were used to identify FTT hospitalizations. Children with preexisting chronic conditions, prematurity, or active acute illness were excluded. Patient demographics, admission weight, length of stay, and therapies received during the hospitalization (eg, acid suppression medication use during admission, change in caloric density, escalation in diet) were extracted from the medical chart.

The primary exposure variable was etiology of FTT, categorized as neglect, child-centered feeding difficulties, gastroesophageal …