The Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool: Development and Content Validation

Purpose: To develop and content validate the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool (NeoEAT), a parent-report measure of infant feeding.

Design: The NeoEAT was developed in three phases. Phase 1: Items were generated from a literature review, available assessment tools, and parents’ descriptions of problematic feeding in infants. Phase 2: Professionals rated items for relevance and clarity. Content validity indices were calculated. Phase 3: Parent understanding was explored through cognitive interviews.

Sample: Phase 1: Descriptions of infant feeding were obtained from 12 parents of children with diagnosed feeding problems and 29 parents of infants younger than seven months. Phase 2: Nine professionals rated items. Phase 3: Sixteen parents of infants younger than seven months completed the cognitive interview.

Main Outcome Variable: Content validity of the NeoEAT.

Results: Three versions were developed: NeoEAT Breastfeeding (72 items), NeoEAT Bottle Feeding (74 items), and NeoEAT Breastfeeding and Bottle Feeding (89 items).