[A survey on the time to reach full enteral feeding for preterm infants with gestational age <32 weeks in neonatal intensive care units of Chinese Neonatal Network].

<b>Objective:</b> To analyze the time to reach full enteral feedings (TFEF) among preterm infants with gestational age (GA)<32 weeks admitted to the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) of Chinese Neonatal Network (CHNN). <b>Methods:</b> This was a retrospective analysis based on the database from the CHNN 89 participating centers between January 1^st, 2019 and December 31^st, 2022. All 16 155 preterm infants with a GA <32 weeks and a birth weight <1 500 g, admitted to the NICU within 24 h after birth, hospitalization for at least 7 d and achieved full enteral feedings before discharge were included. According to the birth weight, these infants were divided into extremely low birth weight (ELBW) group and very low birth weight (VLBW) group. The practice characteristics of TFEF across different gestational ages, the severity of neonatal admission, the NICU interventions before reaching full enteral feeding, and relevant neonatal diseases were described. Mann-Whitney <i>U</i> tests or Kruskal-Wallis <i>H</i> tests was used for comparison between groups. <b>Results:</b> Among the 16 155 preterm infants with a GA<32 weeks, 8 505 case(52.6%) were male. The TFEF in 3 374 cases of ELBW groups was 32 (22, 46) d, 351 cases (10.4%) with TFEF ≤2 weeks, 1 050 cases (31.1%) with TFEF >2-4 weeks, 964 cases (28.6%) with TFEF >4-6 weeks, and 1 009 cases (29.9%) with TFEF >6 weeks. The TFEF in 12 781 cases of VLBW group was 22 (15, 32) d, 439 cases (3.4%) with TFEF ≤1 week, 2 565 cases (20.1%) with TFEF >1-2 weeks, 5 526 cases (43.2%) with TFEF >2-4 weeks, and 4 251 cases (33.3%) with TFEF >4 weeks. The TFEF was 36(23, 52) d of 625 preterm infants at a GA ≤25 weeks and 20(13, 28) d of 2 606 preterm infants at a GA 31 weeks. Inborn infants had a shorter TFEF than those outborn infants and the infants with breast-fed achieved shorter than formula and mixed feeding both in ELBW and VLBW groups (all <i>P<</i>0.001). The earlier enteral feeding started, the shorter TFEF will be both in ELBW and VLBW groups (both <i>P<</i>0.001). The TFEF of preterm infants who were treated before full enteral feeding like peripherally inserted central catheters, and blood transfusions and blood product providers were all longer than those who were not treated (all <i>P</i><0.001). The TFEF of preterm infants with complications like hemodynamically significant patent ductus arteriosus, necrotizing enterocolitis, late onset sepsis, severe retinopathy of prematurity and bronchopulmonary dysplasia were all longer than those without (all <i>P</i><0.001). <b>Conclusions:</b> The distribution of TFEF in VLBW and ELBW has a large difference. The TFEF of preterm infants varies with different gestational age, treatment measures and complications. Further quality improvement is required to shorten TFEF.