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Use of parent report to screen for feeding difficulties in young children
Author(s) -
Marshall Jeanne,
Raatz Madeline,
Ward Elizabeth C,
Dodrill Pamela
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/jpc.12729
Subject(s) - medicine , normative , reliability (semiconductor) , pediatrics , developmental psychology , psychology , philosophy , power (physics) , physics , epistemology , quantum mechanics
Aims This study aimed to collect data on A ustralian children with regard to feeding difficulties using a standardised questionnaire, compare these data to international data collected using the same tool, assess the short‐term reliability of this tool and determine the sensitivity and specificity of this tool in detecting feeding difficulties. Methods Parents completed the B ehavioral P ediatric F eeding A ssessment S cale. Data on 54 typically developing children and 81 children with feeding difficulties aged 2–6 years are presented. Results Our A ustralian sample performed comparably to normative data from C anada and the UK . Reliable results were demonstrated over a 2‐week period, and the scale was shown to have high specificity. There was a significant difference between typically developing children and children with feeding difficulties in frequency of undesirable mealtime behaviours ( P < 0.01) and the number of behaviours reported as a problem by parents using this tool ( P < 0.01). Conclusions This study confirmed that the B ehavioral P ediatric F eeding A ssessment S cale is a valid tool for identifying A ustralian children with feeding difficulties. Given that it is simple to administer and has a high reliability and specificity, it is suggested as a useful screening tool for physicians working with young children. Data collected using this tool found that typically developing children display few undesirable feeding behaviours, and few behaviours are perceived as problems by parents. Therefore, any child presenting with a large number of feeding problems on this parent‐reported measure should be referred for further multidisciplinary evaluation and treatment as required.