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

Introduction: Assessing pediatric feeding difficulties (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: 100 parents of Greek Cypriot children with PFD (clinical group) and 100 parents of healthy Greek Cypriot children (control group) aged six 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 Αnalysis (PCA) [14 items ranging between -0.6 and 0.7]. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) Factor analysis was equal to 0.91 with substantial correlations (Bartlett's test= 0.001654804). 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.