Pediatric Oral Motor Feeding Assessments: A Systematic Review

ABSTRACT

Aim: To describe the clinical properties and psychometric soundness of pediatric oral motor feeding assessments. Methods: A systematic search was conducted using Medline, CINAHL, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and HAPI databases. Assessments were analyzed for their clinical and psychometric characteristics. Results: 12 assessment tools were identified to meet the inclusion/exclusion criteria. Clinical properties varied from assessments evaluating oral-motor deficits, screening to identify feeding problems, and monitoring feeding progress. Most assessments were designed for children with developmental disabilities or cerebral palsy. Eleven assessments had psychometric evidence, of these nine had reliability and validity testing (Ability for Basic Feeding and Swallowing Scale for Children, Behavioral Assessment Scale of Oral Functions in Feeding, Dysphagia Disorder Survey, Functional Feeding Assessment–modified, Gisel Video Assessment, Montreal Children's Hospital Feeding Scale, Oral Motor Assessment Scale, Schedule for Oral Motor Assessment, and Screening Tool of Feeding Problems Applied to Children). The Brief Assessment of Motor Function–Oral Motor Deglutition and the Pediatric Assessment Scale for Severe Feeding Problems had reliability testing only. The Slurp Test was not tested for any psychometric properties. Overall, psychometric evidence was inconsistent and inadequate for the evaluative tools.

KEYWORDS:

• Children
• eating
• evaluation
• reliability
• validity

Declaration of Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

About the Authors

This review was carried out as part of the graduate studies of C. Barton and M. Bickell in Occupational Therapy. Both are currently practicing Occupational Therapists. Sandra Fucile, PhD, OT (Reg) is a research associate at Queen's University whose research interests are in early intervention strategies aimed at preventing oral feeding problems in infants and children.