Psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the neonatal eating assessment tool-breastfeeding (NeoEAT–Breastfeeding)

Abstract

Abstract Background Literature reports indicate that breastfeeding is often ended earlier than planned, within the first 6 months. Assessment tools can help nursing professionals identify early breastfeeding problems to identify interventions to support families in meeting their breastfeeding goals. Here we present our analyses of the validity/reliability of the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool (NeoEAT)–Breastfeeding adapted to the Turkish language for use in post-discharge infants in Türkiye. Methods A Turkish version of the NeoEAT-Breastfeeding was created and applied to 310 mothers of term and preterm infants (corrected age < 7 months) between June 2023 and April 2024. Validity and reliability were assessed using Cronbach’s α coefficients, exploratory/confirmatory factor analysis, and item-total correlation, test-retest, and known-groups analysis. Results The Turkish NeoEAT–Breastfeeding includes 59 items in 6 factors with 48.047% total explained variance. Exploratory factor analysis indicated that item factor loadings ranged from 0.314 to 0.788. Known-group analysis confirmed that infants with diagnosed feeding problems had higher total and subscale scores than those without (P < 0.05). The Cronbach’s α coefficient was 0.87. Item-total correlations were sufficient (0.302–0.753; P < 0.01). There was excellent agreement between test values and retest values obtained after a two-week interval (intraclass correlation coefficients = 0.904-1.000). Conclusion The Turkish NeoEAT–Breastfeeding was shown to be a reliable and valid parent-reported measure of feeding problems in breastfed infants younger than 7 months of corrected age after discharge.

Keywords

• Breastfeeding
• Feeding behavior
• Infant
• Patient-reported outcome measure
• Psychometrics