Chronic Lung Disease (CLD) is a significant disorder affecting preterm infants. Preterm infants with CLD are known to have poor growth when compared to healthy-preterm infants of matching post-conceptional ages, with average weights falling below the 10 percentile on standardized growth charts. Although exact mechanisms contributing to growth discrepancies in preterm infants with CLD are unknown, researchers have hypothesized that inhibited growth may result from the immaturity of neural mechanisms. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effects of autonomic regulation on the growth of preterm infants with CLD. At 0 and 2 months post-term age corrected for prematurity, preterm infants with CLD will be compared to preterm infants without CLD in terms of the following study variables: weight gain, heart rate variability, sleeping patterns, feeding behavior, and nutritional intake. It is hypothesized that preterm infants with CLD will exhibit immaturity of autonomic regulation when compared to preterm infants without CLD, as evidenced by decreased weight gain, decreased heart rate variability, increased total sleep time, poorer feeding behavior, and decreased nutritional intake.
