Healthcare professionals' perspectives regarding the foundations of a patient reported measure for adults receiving Home Enteral Tube Feeding-A Delphi study.

Abstract

Aims: To seek input on the development of a tool for measuring treatment burden in Home Enteral Tube Feeding by healthcare professional consultation.

Methods: A modified two-round online Delphi study recruited experts via an open call to professional organisations and snowball sampling. Experts were healthcare professionals involved in the provision, coordination, or management of care for adults receiving Home Enteral Tube Feeding. In Round 1, participants rated 14 topics grouped under three themes derived from prior qualitative research with Australian Home Enteral Tube Feeding patients and a literature review. Agreement was defined as the proportion of the top two ratings on a five-point Likert scale. Ratings and free-text comments were summarised and presented in Round 2, where topics and themes were re-rated and ranked for usefulness to clinical practice and service management.

Results: Forty-five dietitians and nurses completed Round 1 and 32 self-nominated for Round 2, which was completed by 18 respondents. In Round 1, agreement for importance (n = 33-41, 75%-98%) and relevance (n = 28-40, 72%-95%) was high across all topics. In Round 2, agreement for usefulness to practice was 88%-100% (n = 14-18) and for management, 60%-100% (n = 3-5). When prioritised, the theme 'Essential Treatment Work' ranked highest (n = 9, 60%), with three of its six topics placed in the top tertile by at least half of respondents.

Conclusion: Clinicians perceived measurement of the topics patients previously described as contributing to Home Enteral Tube Feeding burden as important for improving clinical care. Findings support use of these topics to develop a targeted, patient-reported measure that produces clinically meaningful data.