A systematic review of clinical and psychometric properties of infant oral motor feeding assessments.

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical properties and psychometric soundness of infant oral motor feeding assessments available for practice.

METHODS: A systematic review was conducted using six databases (PubMed, Ovid [Medline], CINHAL, EMBASE, psycINFO, and COCHRANE) to retrieve articles. Assessments were analyzed for their clinical characteristics and psychometric robustness.

RESULTS: Ten assessment tools were identified to meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Clinical properties of the tools varied from assessments which assessed oral feeding readiness, oral motor function, and pre-feeding skills for breast and/or bottle feeding. Psychometric evidence was found for seven assessment tools. The Neonatal Oral Motor Assessment Scale was found to be the most widely tested for psychometric soundness. The overall psychometric evidence was inconsistent and/or inadequate for the evaluative tools.

CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this systematic review demonstrate clinical usefulness of the tools based on their assessment properties, however additional studies are needed to further establish their psychometric soundness.