the interrater and intrarater reliability of the preterm infant oral feeding readiness assessment scale

Introduction: one of the most challenging decisions is to assess the preterm infant’s transitionfrom tube feeding to oral feeding. thus, we require a reliable tool for determining the time tostart oral feeding. this study aimed to measure the interrater and intrarater reliability of thepreterm infant oral feeding readiness assessment scale (piofra).materials and methods: this study was an observational, cross-sectional study. the studyparticipants were preterm infants who had been hospitalized in the neonatal intensive careunit of shariati hospital affiliated to tehran university of medical sciences, betweendecember 2017 and february 2018. the inclusion criteria were absence of neurologicaland gastrointestinal disorders or major congenital anomalies, apgar score 3 or more in thefirst 1 minute, and 5 or more in the first 5 minutes. the exclusion criteria included family’sunwillingness to participate in the study, infant’s death, or a sudden change that affectsneonates’ nutritional status, like cerebral hemorrhage or intestinal problems.results: the interrater and intrarater reliability of the total piofra scale was good intraclasscorrelation coefficients (icc˃0.75). the interrater and intrarater reliability of most items weregood and excellent, with weighted kappa more than 0.50, with the exception of lip posture andespecially stress sign, with weighted kappa less than 0.40.conclusion: generally, most items of the piofra scale had acceptable interrater and intraraterreliability. also, the interrater and intrarater reliabilities of the total pofras score was good.