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Published on: February 5, 2019
Psychometric validation of the infant feeding position scale
Wei-Hsuan Jen1, Yun-Fang Tsai2
1Department of Nursing, Yuanpei University of Medical Science and Technology, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
Insights
A new scale helps parents and clinicians assess infant feeding postures to prevent musculoskeletal strain. This tool aids in identifying and improving caregiver positioning for better parent-child interaction and overall feeding quality.
Area of Science:
- Ergonomics and Musculoskeletal Health
- Parent-Child Interaction Studies
- Health Assessment Tool Development
Background:
- Infant feeding involves frequent caregiver-infant interactions with 6-12 daily feeding sessions.
- Suboptimal caregiver postures during feeding can lead to musculoskeletal strain, soreness, and injury.
- Lack of standardized tools hinders identification of poor feeding postures and evidence-based guidance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a psychometrically tested self-assessment scale for parental infant-feeding postures.
- To provide a validated instrument for caregivers and healthcare professionals.
Main Methods:
- Item generation through literature review.
- Content and face validity testing.
- Cross-sectional study (N=225) for construct validity (PCA), internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.
Main Results:
- A 14-item scale with high content validity (CVI=1.00) was developed.
- Four components identified: body proximity, support aids, head-neck-shoulder posture, and atypical postures.
- Scale showed good construct validity, acceptable internal consistency (α=0.80), and moderate test-retest reliability (ICC=0.62).
Conclusions:
- The developed scale is a valid and reliable tool for assessing parental infant-feeding postures.
- This instrument facilitates monitoring of feeding posture quality for early clinical evaluation.
- Enhances overall feeding quality and supports evidence-based postural guidance for caregivers.
Background:
Infant feeding is a fundamental daily task and a critical parent-child interaction. Caregivers perform 6-12 feeds daily, often maintaining fixed, uncoordinated postures that can cause musculoskeletal strain, soreness, and injury.
Problem:
Although various feeding positions are widely practiced, currently no standardized tool evaluates the quality or suitability of a parent's physical posture. Without a validated self-assessment instrument, it is difficult for parents to identify suboptimal positioning, and healthcare providers lack a baseline for evidence-based postural guidance.
Aim:
To develop and psychometrically test a self-assessment scale for parental infant-feeding postures.
Methods:
The study involved three stages: (1) item generation via literature review; (2) content and face validity testing; and (3) a cross-sectional study (N = 225) to evaluate construct validity using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.
Findings:
The 14-item scale (CVI = 1.00) comprises four components: proximity of the body to the infant during feeding, physical support aids used during feeding, head-neck-shoulder posture during feeding, and body presents with atypical postures during feeding. These explained 63.05% of the total variance. The scale demonstrated acceptable internal consistency (overall α = 0.80) and moderate test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.62, p < 0.001).
Discussion:
The developed scale demonstrated good construct validity, acceptable internal consistency, and moderate test-retest reliability.
Conclusion:
This scale allows clinicians and parents to monitor feeding posture quality, thereby facilitating early clinical evaluation and enhancing overall feeding quality.
