Psychometric Evaluation of a NICU Version of the Family-Centered Care Experience Survey

To evaluate psychometric properties of a revised family caregiver-reported survey assessing family-centeredness of care in the new context of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) encounters.

This study was a secondary analysis of a cluster randomized controlled trial conducted in a NICU. A trial outcome was caregiver-reported family-centered care using a 10-item revised version of the Family-Centered Care Experience (FACCE) survey. We included all caregivers who completed the FACCE survey. We analyzed internal consistency reliability, interrater correlation, dimensionality via classic and item response theory (IRT) methods, and convergent validity with Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (Child-HCAHPS) Survey items.

Among 389 participants (57.3% birthing parent), the mean (SD) NICU-FACCE summary score was 8.9 (2.2) on a 0-10 scale. All items demonstrated consistent response patterns and good internal consistency (coefficient α = 0.89). High correlation of total scores between 223 birthing parents and 166 second caregivers indicated family-centered care across groups. A unidimensional IRT model was best fitting, with a 2-parameter logistic (2PL) model providing best fit. Resulting factor scores showed strong correlations with the summary score (r = 0.93) and a very high intermodel correlation between Rasch and 2PL scores (r = 0.996). The partial correlation between NICU-FACCE and Child-HCAHPS was 0.65 (95% CI, 0.56-0.72).

This evaluation provides foundational psychometric evidence that the NICU-FACCE survey is a feasible, reliable measure of family-centered care. Survey items functioned as intended and showed expected relationships with related constructs, supporting its ability to meaningfully capture caregivers' experiences.