Assessment and diagnosis of Paediatric Feeding Disorder: A scoping review of assessment tools and psychometric properties

PURPOSE: Paediatric Feeding Disorder occurs when oral intake is not age-appropriate and associated with impaired medical, nutritional, feeding skill, and/or psychosocial dysfunction. Psychometric properties of feeding assessments are variable, with unclear mapping to the Paediatric Feeding Disorder criteria. We aimed to explore paediatric feeding and swallowing assessment tools mapped to Paediatric Feeding Disorder domains and narratively analyse the psychometric properties. METHOD: This systematic scoping review utilised three databases (Medline, Embase, Web of Science). Studies written in English regarding children 0;6 months to 3;11 years with psychometrics on assessment of Paediatric Feeding Disorder were included. RESULT: 32,322 papers met inclusion criteria, and 137 papers were included in final extraction. Ninety-five feeding assessments were identified; 66.3% parent-reported questionnaires, 31.6% clinician assessments, and 2.1% clinician or caregiver rating scales. Of these, 87% of assessments included a combination of Paediatric Feeding Disorder domains. Psychometric properties were reported on 520 occasions, the highest being internal consistency (13.5%). CONCLUSION: clinician assessment to synergise caregiver perspectives with clinical expertise. Further research is needed to enhance reliability and validity testing of paediatric feeding assessments to form a comprehensive Paediatric Feeding Disorder diagnosis.