The psychometric characteristics of Neonatal Oral-motor Assessment Scale in clinical practice

Abstract

Objective To examine the psychometric characteristics of the Neonatal Oral-motor Assessment Scale (NOMAS) and the influence of evaluation time on assessment results of oral motor skills for preterm infants,and to provide advice for the application of oral-motor assessment in clinic practice.Methods Following Palmer's method,a video recording was made for the preterm infants at different age during the first 2 min of nutritive sucking(NS).We stored the recordings on a digital videodisc and two NOMAS assessors assessed each recording.Results The NOMAS had acceptable internal consistency for less than 35 weeks' PMA (postmenstrual age).Moderate correlation were found between scores on the NOMAS and feeding performance for less than 35 weeks' PMA (normal sucking r=0.58,sucking disorder r=-0.61).The NOMAS demonstrated low responsiveness to changes in oral-motor skill in a week period,ranging from 33 to 36 weeks' PMA (SRM=0.02～0.49).The NOMAS scores for evaluating 30 seconds and 2 minutes were not consistent,the former scores was higher.Conclusions The reliability and validity of NOMAS were acceptable in assessing the oral-motor function of preterm infants for less than 35 weeks' PMA.The evaluation time of NOMAS was suitable for 2 min. Key words: Preterm infant; Neonatal oral-motor assessment scale; Reliability; Validity; Responsiveness