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The Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool (NeoEAT) Development

Assessment tools should be both reliable and valid. Reliable tools are consistent, which means if you tested the same child twice int he same week, they should get the same score both times. Valid tools are accurate, which means they measure what they say they measure.

There are many ways to establish that a tool is reliable and valid. The important piece to look for is that both the reliability and validity have been tested.

There are 7 publications that describe how the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool (NeoEAT) was developed, including its reliability and validity.

Publication 1: The Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool: Development and Content Validation

Published in Neonatal Network, 2017

This publication describes how the items for the NeoEAT were developed and establishes the tool’s validity. First, items for the tool were generated from several sources (a literature review, other assessment tools, and parent descriptions of feeding in infants). Then, an interdisciplinary team of 9 professionals rated the validity using established content validity indices. Finally, the team interviewed 16 parents of infants to get their feedback on the tool’s items.

The result of this process was that 3 versions of the NeoEAT were developed: NeoEAT Breastfeeding (for infants who are breastfeeding only), NeoEAT Bottle Feeding (for infants who are only bottle fed), and NeoEAT Mixed Feeding (for infants who are both breast and bottle-fed).

Publication 2: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool – Breastfeeding

Published in the Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 2018

This publication describes how the reliability and validity of the Breastfeeding version of the NeoEAT was tested. 402 parents of breastfeeding infants completed the tool to test reliability. The tool was also compared to other similar tools to test validity. At the end of this testing, the team was able to conclude that the breastfeeding version of the NeoEAT had strong reliability and validity.

Publication 3: Factor Structure and Psychometric Properties of the Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool – Bottle-Feeding

Published in the Advances in Neonatal Care, 2018

This publication describes how the reliability and validity of the Bottle-Feeding version of the NeoEAT was tested. For this analysis, 441 parents of bottle-feeding infants completed the tool two times, 2 weeks apart to test reliability. The tool was also compared to other similar tools and parents of infants with and without feeding problems completed it to test validity. At the end of this testing, the team was able to conclude that the Bottle-Feeding version of the NeoEAT had strong reliability and validity.

Publication 4: Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool – Mixed Breastfeeding and Bottle-Feeding (NeoEAT – Mixed Feeding): Factor Analysis and Psychometric Properties

Published in Maternal Health, Neonatology and Perinatology, 2019

This publication describes how the reliability and validity of the Mixed Feeding version of the NeoEAT was tested. Similar to publications 2 and 3, 608 parents completed the tool, those with infants with feeding problems, and those without. The NeoEAT Mixed Feeding was also compared to other similar tools. At the end of this testing, the team was able to conclude that the tool had strong reliability and validity.

Publication 5: Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool – Bottle-Feeding: Norm-Reference Values for Infants Less Than 7 Months Old

Published in Clinical Pediatrics, 2019

While not required, a tool that has age-based norm-reference values can help you understand  how one infant’s score compares to other infants their age. At total of 478 parents of healthy,  typically developing infants from 0 – 7 months old completed the NeoEAT Botle Feeding to  determine what typical scores are at different ages. When you download the NeoEAT Botle  Feeding, you will be able to see cut-off scores that indicate how concerning an infant’s scores  are by subsection.

Publication 6: Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool – Breastfeeding: Reference Values for Infants Less Than 7 Months Old

Published in The Journal of Human Lactation, 2019

Similar to publication 5, a total of 475 parents of healthy, typically developing infants from 0 – 7  months old who were exclusively breastfed completed the NeoEAT Breastfeeding to determine  what typical scores are at different ages. When you download the NeoEAT Breastfeeding, you  will be able to see cut-off scores that indicate how concerning an infant’s scores are by  subsection.

Publication 7: Neonatal Eating Assessment Tool – Breastfeeding and Bottle-Feeding: Reference Values and Factors Associated with Problematic Feeding Symptoms in Healthy, Full Term Infants

Published in The Journal of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, 2021

Like publications 5 and 6, a total of 409 parents of healthy, typically developing infants from 0 – 7 months old who were both breast- and botle-fed completed the NeoEAT Mixed Feeding to  determine what typical scores are at different ages. When you download the NeoEAT Mixed  Feeding, you will be able to see cut-off scores that indicate how concerning an infant’s scores  are by subsection.