Assess of validity and reliability of Chinese version of Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale

Abstract

Objective To assess the reliability and validity of Chinese version of Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale. Methods The original edition of Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale was translated from English into Chinese.The Chinese version scale was tested in 154 preterm infants for reliability and validity. Results The Cronbach's α coefficient for the scale was 0.817.The ICC between 2 examiners for the scale was 0.917(P<0.01)and the Spearman rs was 0.927(P<0.01). The structure of the scale was reasonable and the difference whether the premature could start oral bottle-feeding was statistically significant(P=0.000). Area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve was 0.858(P=0.000, 95%CI: 0.775-0.941). The sensitivity of the scale was 0.756, and the specificity was 0.800 when a cut of 30 point was set by ROC curve analysis, and the overall cross-validated kappa was 0.387(P=0.000). Therefore, 30 point was suggested as the cut point for preterm infant oral feeding readiness. Conclusions The Chinese version of Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale has a good reliability and validity and it is a favorable tool to assess whether the premature can start oral bottle-feeding safely. Key words: Preterm Infant Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale; Reliability; Validity; Preterm infant