Prevalence of ankyloglossia and factors that impact on exclusive breastfeeding in neonates

ABSTRACT Objective: to determine the prevalence of ankyloglossia in neonates and verify factors that interfere with exclusive breastfeeding and cause difficulties in breastfeeding. Methods: an observational longitudinal study conducted at a public maternity hospital in Teresina, Piauí, Brazil. The sample comprised 397 mother-child pairs. Ankyloglossia was diagnosed with the part I of the Baby Lingual Frenulum Assessment Protocol with Scores. Six months after the children were born, the mothers were interviewed and answered questions on the indication and performance of frenotomy and time of breastfeeding. Descriptive analysis of the data, chi-square test and bivariate and multivariate Poisson regression were conducted (p < 0.05). Results: the prevalence of ankyloglossia was 4.3% (n = 17). The attendance rate for the second moment of the research was 70.8% (n = 281). Of the examined children, 14 were indicated for lingual frenotomy, but only one was submitted to the procedure. The time of exclusive breastfeeding of children with ankyloglossia was equal to that of children with a normal lingual frenulum (p-value = 0.876). Ankyloglossia was not associated with breastfeeding difficulties (PR = 1.0 95%CI 0.8-1.1, p-value = 0.441), neither was it a factor for not breastfeeding exclusively for 6 months (PR = 1.1 95%CI 0.9-1.2, p-value = 0.390). Conclusions: the prevalence of ankyloglossia in the studied population was 4.3%. Baby bottle use in the first month of life and breastfeeding difficulties were hindering factors for exclusive breastfeeding.