Highlights
- •The TC-POFRAS is an effective scale for predicting premature infants' readiness for oral feeding.
- •Healthcare professionals may use the TC-POFRAS to assess and assist in determining whether to initiate oral feeding for preterm infants in clinical practice.
Abstract
Purpose
A successful transition from gavage to full oral feeding is a decisive indicator for
discharging premature infants from the neonatal intensive care unit. A clinically
useful measure of oral feeding readiness would help nurses initiate implementation
of the cue-based feeding model in Taiwan. The study aimed to assess the validity and
reliability of the Traditional Chinese Preterm Oral Feeding Readiness Assessment Scale
(TC-POFRAS).
Design and methods
81 preterm infants were enrolled and assessed by TC-POFRAS regarding their oral feeding
readiness. This study included two phases. Phase 1 conducted a cross language validation
procedure and item-level content validity indices (I-CVIs) for content validity were
estimated. In phase 2, Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency at each category
and total scale levels were estimated. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve
was estimated to explore the scale's performance. The optimal cut-off value of TC-POFRAS
was identified by the best Youden's Index [maximum (sensitivity + specificity − 1)].
Results
All of the I-CVIs were 1.00. The whole Cronbach's alpha for internal consistency was
0.804 (95% CI = 0.736–0.862), and Cronbach's alpha values were between 0.538 (95% = 0.332–0.689)
and 0.687 (95%CI = 0.572–0.781) for categories. The area under ROC was 92.2%, and
an optimal cut-off value of TC-POFRAS was 29 (sensitivity: 0.938, specificity: 0.941).
Conclusions
The TC-POFRAS has been verified to be an effective and accurate instrument to determine
the initiation of oral feeding in preterm infants.
Practice implications
The TC-POFRAS is an appropriate and complementary assessment instrument for professionals
to conveniently use in clinical practice.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: February 26, 2021
Accepted:
February 2,
2021
Received in revised form:
January 30,
2021
Received:
February 12,
2020
Identification
Copyright
© 2021 Published by Elsevier Inc.
