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Clinical validation of the infant-driven feeding scales© in Turkey
Dilek Küçük Alemdar1, Sevil İnal2, Muhammet Bulut3
1Associate Professor, Ordu University Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Pediatric Nursing, Ordu, Turkey.
Insights
The Infant-Driven Feeding Scales (IDFS) is now validated in Turkish, offering a reliable tool for assessing preterm infants' oral feeding readiness. This supports evidence-based interventions for successful feeding skill development in neonatal care.
Area of Science:
- Neonatal care
- Pediatric feeding interventions
- Infant development
Background:
- Developing feeding skills is crucial for preterm infants' neonatal care.
- Comprehensive assessment of infant skills is essential for selecting appropriate feeding interventions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To adapt the Infant-Driven Feeding Scales (IDFS) into the Turkish language for clinical use.
Main Methods:
- A methodological, observational, single-center cross-sectional study involving 80 preterm infants (gestational age ≥ 32 weeks).
- Data collected using a premature infant descriptive information form, IDFS, and LATCH Score.
- Turkish validity-reliability assessed via translate-back translate method and content validity index (CVI).
Main Results:
- The Turkish IDFS demonstrated high content validity (mean CVI = 0.96).
- Strong positive correlations were found between IDFS measures, with good inter-observer reliability (kappa values 0.94-1.00).
- Gestational age and postmenstrual age were significant predictors of IDFS scores.
Conclusions:
- The Turkish version of the IDFS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing oral feeding skills in preterm infants.
- The IDFS aids in planning evidence-based interventions and identifying risks associated with delayed feeding independence.
Background:
Supporting the development of feeding skills among preterm infants is an important component of neonatal care. The selection of appropriate and supportive feeding interventions begins with a comprehensive assessment of the infant's skills.
Purpose:
This study aimed to adapt the Infant-Driven Feeding Scales© (IDFS) to the Turkish language.
Methods:
This was a methodological, observational, single-center cross-sectional study. The study included 80 infants born at a gestational age ≥ 32 weeks, consecutively admitted to a tertiary Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Research data were collected using a premature infant descriptive information form (IDIF), IDFS, and LATCH Score for Breastfeeding Assessment. For the Turkish validity-reliability of the IDF, the translate-back translate method was used with the content validity index (CVI) assessed.
Results:
The scale had CVI values between 0.90 and 1.00 with a mean CVI = 0.96. For measures 1 and 2, there were significant positive and high-level correlations between IFDS-R and IFDS-Q correlation values (r = 0.553-0.958; p = 0.001) and significant negative, low-level correlations between IFDS-R and IFDS-Q with the LATCH scale (r = 0.439-0.532; p = 0.001). According to inter-observer compatibility analyses, the kappa value was 0.94-1.00 for the first measure and 0.96-1.00 for the second measure (p = 0.001). There were negative significant correlations between IDFS-R points with gestational age and postmenstrual age (PMA) (p = 0.001), and gestational age and PMA were explanatory factors for 13.8% of IDFS-R points (F = 7.30, p = 0.001).
Conclusions:
The IDFS is recommended for use as a valid and reliable tool to ease the safe and successful development of oral feeding skills in preterm infants and to plan evidence-based interventions.
Implications For Practice:
The IDFS appears to be a beneficial measurement device for use in assessing the state of readiness of preterm infants for oral feeding and for early determination of risks that may occur due to delayed feeding independence of infants.
