Long‐term outcomes of intensive multidisciplinary intervention for feeding tube dependence and chronic food refusal
Intensive day-treatment feeding programs can keep most kids off feeding tubes for at least six years.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tracked the kids who had finished an intensive day-treatment feeding program. All kids had feeding tubes and refused food for months or years.
Six years later, parents answered a short survey. Doctors also shared growth charts and hospital records.
What they found
Eight out of ten kids who left the program without a tube still ate by mouth six years later. Nine out of ten parents said their child now liked food or felt neutral about it.
Kids kept a healthy weight and visited the hospital less often than before treatment.
How this fits with other research
Chawner et al. (2019) reviewed 36 studies and found most feeding programs work best when they mix several ABA tools. Volkert’s long-term results match this pattern.
Scott et al. (2024) showed that combining escape and non-escape extinction gives the fastest gains. Volkert’s program uses this same blend, which may explain why gains lasted.
Taylor (2023) proved that an intensive home-based protocol can teach kids to take medicines in just one session. Volkert extends this idea: intensive help, whether in clinic or at home, can keep kids off tubes for years.
Why it matters
If you run or refer to an intensive feeding program, you can now tell families that most weans hold steady for six years. Use this data at intake to build hope and show why the hard work is worth it.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
To evaluate the long‐term follow‐up status of patients with a history of feeding tube dependence who completed a multidisciplinary, day treatment program. We conducted a 17‐item Qualtrics survey of patients who participated in treatment to improve the volume and variety of solid food intake and replace enteral feeding due to chronic food refusal an average of 6 years following intervention. Of the 81 patients included in the original outcome study, 75 met eligibility criteria; 36 caregivers (48%) completed the survey. Survey respondents and non‐respondents were similar in terms of patient demographics and status at discharge. Most patients (80%) who achieved full wean from feeding tube dependence at program discharge maintained their wean at the time of the survey. Most caregivers (89%) described their child's relationship with food as “good” or “neutral”. Intensive multidisciplinary intervention holds benefits for children with complex feeding problems, including advancing the volume and variety of food consumed during meals and reducing the need for enteral feeding. The durability of these benefits, however, is not well understood. The current follow‐up survey of patients who completed an intensive feeding program suggests that treatment gains, such as the reduction of tube dependency, endure for most patients. Our findings provide provisional evidence of the long‐term effectiveness of our intensive multidisciplinary model in promoting oral intake and reducing tube dependence among young children with chronic food refusal. Future research should seek to better understand who benefits most from this model of care.
JPGN Reports, 2025 · doi:10.1002/jpr3.70070