The Evaluation of Oral Feeding in Preterm Infants: Turkish Validation of the Early Feeding Skills Assessment Tool

OBJECTIVE: The Early Feeding Skills Assessment Tool (EFS) is a valid and reliable tool for evaluating preterm infants’ oral feeding skills and readiness during the transition to oral feeding. There is currently no instrument with tested validity and reliability available to evaluate the oral feeding skills and readiness of preterm infants in Turkey. The aim of this study was to fill the need for such an instrument for use in the Turkish population by adapting and validating the EFS for the assessment of Turkish preterm infants during the transition to oral feeding. MATERIAL AND METHODS: This methodological, cross-sectional study included 107 preterm infants. Validity of the EFS-Turkish was tested with linguistic, content, and construct validity analyses, and its reliability was tested using internal consistency and item analyses. RESULTS: A panel of experts confirmed the content validity of the items in the EFS-Turkish (content validity index = 0.97). Cronbach’s alpha for the total instrument was 0.95, supporting its internal consistency reliability. Item–total correlations ranged from 0.58 to 0.83 (P < .001). Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the established EFS structure of 19 items and 5 factors. The tool demonstrated good model fit statistics (χ(2)/df = 2.24; P < .001). CONCLUSION: The EFS-Turkish is a valid and reliable instrument for use in neonatal intensive care units to evaluate the feeding skills of preterm infants during the transition to oral feeding. The use of the EFS-Turkish is recommended to facilitate the safe and successful development of preterm infants’ oral feeding skills and to plan evidence-based initiatives.