Establishing Intervention Fidelity of an Oral Motor Intervention for Preterm Infants.

Abstract

To establish intervention fidelity of the premature infant oral motor intervention (PIOMI) Design and sample: A rating tool was developed and tested for interrater reliability before being used to test the fidelity of intervention behaviors. A purposeful convenience sample of three users was recruited to perform the intervention under direct observation. Three types of reliabilities were calculated: (1) interrater reliability to test the rating tool, followed by (2) interuser reliability, and (3) test-retest reliabilities to test the intervention behaviors of several registered nurses (RNs) over repeated performances of the intervention. The rating tool demonstrated a high interrater reliability (97.57 percent), indicating its accuracy for systematically rating the specific intervention behaviors. Subsequently, the rating tool was used to determine interuser and test-retest performances of the PIOMI and resulted in high reliabilities (97.59 percent and 97.58 percent, respectively). This demonstrates that the intervention can be reliably delivered as prescribed, supporting intervention fidelity.