{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,22]],"date-time":"2026-08-22T04:27:48Z","timestamp":1787372868799,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"16","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1787184000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Nutrients"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Early discharge with home nasogastric (NGT) feeding has been associated with favorable infant outcomes and high parental satisfaction. However, its impact on parental mental health has been insufficiently studied. We aimed to evaluate symptoms of anxiety and depression in mothers and fathers of very preterm infants discharged with or without NGT feeding. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted at a German tertiary perinatal center between October 2020 and May 2024. A total of 238 preterm infants with a birth weight \u2264 1500 g and\/or a postmenstrual age (PMA) \u2264 32 weeks were included; 131 were discharged with full oral feeding and 107 with NGT feeding. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were assessed in mothers and fathers using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS-D) at discharge and at three months corrected age (CA). A total of 201 parent\u2013infant dyads were included. HADS-D assessments were completed by 155 mothers and 135 fathers at discharge and by 121 mothers and 119 fathers at three months CA. Results: At discharge, depression and anxiety scores did not differ between parents of infants discharged with and without NGT feeding. At three months CA, mothers of infants discharged on full oral feeding had higher depression and anxiety scores than mothers of infants discharged with NGT feeding (4.95 \u00b1 3.62 vs. 3.18 \u00b1 2.89; p \u2264 0.01 and 6.42 \u00b1 3.85 vs. 4.79 \u00b1 3.72; p = 0.04), and clinically significant depression scores (\u22658) were more frequent (23.53% vs. 10.45%; p = 0.04). Similarly, fathers in the non-tube-feeding group had higher depression scores at 3 months CA (4.78 \u00b1 3.74 vs. 3.48 \u00b1 2.72; p = 0.04), with a trend towards a greater proportion showing clinically significant depression scores (24.14% vs. 13.11%; p = 0.12. Conclusions: Early discharge of very preterm infants with home NGT feeding was not associated with increased parental psychological distress at discharge and at 3 months CA. Across the outcomes, parental distress tended to be lower at 3 months CA with NGT feeding at discharge. However, as no NGT \u00d7 time interaction was statistically significant after correction for multiple testing, these group differences should be interpreted as exploratory in nature.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/nu18162728","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]],"date-time":"2026-08-20T16:05:19Z","timestamp":1787241919000},"page":"2728","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Early Discharge of Very Preterm Infants with Home Nasogastric Tube Feeding Is Not Associated with Increased Parental HADS Anxiety or Depression Scores"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"given":"Rahel","family":"Schuler","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lea","family":"Woitschitzky","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Family Psychosomatics, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Burkhard","family":"Brosig","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Family Psychosomatics, Department of Pediatrics and Neonatology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Beate","family":"Priewasser","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Early Life Care, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Edda","family":"Hofst\u00e4tter","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Paracelsus Medical University, 5020 Salzburg, Austria"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4587-1734","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Harald","family":"Ehrhardt","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neonatology, Charit\u00e9\u2014Universit\u00e4tsmedizin Berlin, 13344 Berlin, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0152-9830","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Walter A.","family":"Mihatsch","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Division of Neonatology and Pediatric Intensive Care Medicine, Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Eythstr. 24, 89075 Ulm, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, Balingen Hospital, 72336 Balingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,20]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1137","DOI":"10.1038\/s41372-025-02314-0","article-title":"Demographic and clinical predictors and inter-center variability of tube feeding in preterm NICU patients","volume":"45","author":"Varma","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. 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