A clinical tool for nonorganic failure-to-thrive feeding interactions

An interdisciplinary team of professionals developed and piloted a clinical tool, the Feeding Checklist, for assisting observations of feeding interactions with nonorganic failure-to-thrive (NOFTT) clients. The piloting process involved two phases. During the development phase, content validity and reliability were established with three NOFTT experts. The tool was compared with a standardized feeding interaction assessment instrument to determine concurrent validity. Both tools revealed similar behavior patterns significantly differentiating between NOFTT and Thriving dyads. The results also concurred with NOFTT literature findings. During the second phase of the study, pediatric nursing staff significantly improved the nursing documentation of NOFTT feeding interactions when using the Feeding Checklist.