Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Greek Cypriot Montreal Children's Hospital Feeding Scale.

INTRODUCTION

Assessing pediatric feeding disorders (PFD) is essential for a child's development to prevent severe consequences. The assessment procedures for PFD may include parents' questionnaires such as the Montreal Children's Hospital Feeding Scale (MCH-FS). The aim of this study was the cross-cultural adaptation of the MCH-FS to the Greek language.

METHODS

One hundred parents of Greek Cypriot children with PFD (clinical group) and 100 parents of healthy Greek Cypriot children (control group) aged 6 months to 16 years old participated in the study and completed the MCH-FS. World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines were implemented for translation and cultural adaptation.

RESULTS

The internal consistency was excellent, α = 0.85 (ICC: 0.817-0.891). Content validity was significant (S-CVI = 1) with an agreement equal to 14. A strong and significant correlation of MCH-FS was computed according to principal component analysis (14 items ranging between -0.6 and 0.7). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin factor analysis was equal to 0.91 with substantial correlations (Bartlett's test = 0.001, 654,804). The MCH-FS cut-off point between the two groups was 38.00 (AUC: 0.901 [95% CI: 0.859-0.942], p < 0.001; sensitivity = 0.800 and 1-specificity = 0.630). A statistically significant difference between the two groups was observed for the MCH-FS total score, with the clinical group scoring higher (U = 992.00, p < 0.001). Likewise, the same differences were observed among children with different PFD, H (3) = 96.715, p < 0.001.

CONCLUSION

The MCH-FS had good psychometric properties in its current form in Greek. It is suggested that the MCH-FS can be used as a valid tool for children with PFD in the Greek Cypriot population.