Feeding Assistance Skill Score: development and verification of reliability and validity

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Nursing Science
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Objective tools for evaluating feeding assistance skills are currently lacking.
• Safe and effective feeding assistance is crucial for patient well-being and independence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a reliable and objective tool for assessing feeding assistance skills.
• To create a scoring system for peer evaluation of feeding assistance.

Main Methods:

• The Delphi method was used with 25 experts to identify essential assessment items.
• A 10-item Feeding Assistance Skill Score (FASS) was developed and tested for reliability and validity.
• AC1 statistic was used to assess intra- and inter-rater reliability.

Main Results:

• An 18-item draft score was refined to a 10-item FASS.
• The FASS demonstrated good reliability and validity.
• The FASS showed a correlation with dietary intake.

Conclusions:

• A scoring system for evaluating feeding assistance skills has been successfully developed.
• The FASS has the potential to assess feeding assistance training effectiveness and care quality.
• Further validation studies are recommended to support FASS implementation for improved safety and satisfaction.