Pediatric Oral Motor Feeding Assessments: A Systematic Review

Area of Science:

• Pediatric feeding and swallowing disorders
• Clinical assessment tools
• Psychometrics in healthcare

Background:

• Pediatric feeding difficulties are common in children with developmental disabilities.
• Accurate assessment of oral motor skills is crucial for effective intervention.
• Existing feeding assessment tools require evaluation for clinical applicability and psychometric rigor.

Purpose of the Study:

• To systematically review and describe the clinical properties of pediatric oral motor feeding assessments.
• To evaluate the psychometric soundness (reliability and validity) of these assessment tools.
• To identify gaps in the evidence base for current pediatric feeding assessments.

Main Methods:

• Systematic literature search across major medical and psychological databases (Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, HAPI).
• Analysis of identified assessment tools for clinical characteristics and psychometric properties.
• Inclusion/exclusion criteria applied to select relevant pediatric oral motor feeding assessments.

Main Results:

• Twelve pediatric oral motor feeding assessment tools met the inclusion criteria.
• Clinical properties ranged from deficit evaluation to screening and progress monitoring, primarily for children with developmental disabilities or cerebral palsy.
• While eleven assessments had some psychometric evidence, only nine demonstrated both reliability and validity testing. Evidence for reliability and validity was often inconsistent or inadequate.

Conclusions:

• The reviewed pediatric oral motor feeding assessments exhibit variable clinical utility.
• The overall psychometric evidence for these tools is inconsistent and frequently inadequate.
• Further research is needed to develop and validate robust assessment tools for pediatric feeding disorders.