Aplicación de la herramienta Early Feeding Skills Assessment en recién nacidos prematuros ingresados en UCIN españolatraducción y estudio de propiedades métricas

Abstract

Introduction: Oral skills assessment makes it possible to determine the initiation and development of oral feeding in the premature infant admitted to a neonatal unit. Furthermore, it is one of the main criteria to guarantee quality individualized care within them. We present the translation into Spanish of the Early Feeding Skills Assessment (EFSA) tool, the study of its metric properties and its applicability within the NICU. Patients and methods: The EFSA tool is translated and applied to premature babies under 34 + 6 weeks of gestational age admitted to the Neonatal Unit of the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital. Results: The EFSA-VE tools are obtained in their 2010 and 2014 versions. 104 evaluations are carried out from 21 premature babies. Internal consistency reaches an acceptable value (0.76) in the EFSA-VE 2010 tool, which is maintained in the EFSA-VE 2018 version (0.751). Regarding inter-rater reliability, the results show satisfactory and excellent reliability in 57.69% of the items in the EFSA-VE 2010 tool, a property that improves in the EFSA-VE 2018 tool (73.68%). The application of the tool reveals individuality in the development of oral skills for feeding at 34 weeks postmenstrual. Conclusions: The EFSA-VE tool in version 2010 and 2018 is consistent and reliable for use as a tool for assessing oral skills for feeding premature infants admitted to a Spanish neonatal unit, allowing individual care. The use of the EFSA-VE 2018 tool is recommended due to its lower number of items.