Expert survey for prioritization of items for nutrition QOC indices

An expert survey was conducted to have nutrition experts prioritize items for developing quantiative measure of nutrition service quality for pregnant women and children in low- and middle-income country health systes. The criteria for participation in the expert survey was self-reported (1) knowledge of nutrition interventions delivered through the health system in LMICs, (2) clinical knowledge of protocols, and physical and human resources requirements for high-quality delivery of nutrition interventions through LMIC health systems, and (3) expertise in nutrition for children or pregnant women. The recruitment of survey participants began by reaching out to known nutrition experts through a global nutrition network to identify a pool of qualified respondents. The survey was divided into three sections: 1) respondent demographic information, 2) nutrition interventions during pregnancy, and 3) nutrition interventions for children under 5. Respondents self-selected whether to respond to one or both intervention sections based on their area(s) of expertise. Items were consolidated into three main dimensions and a total of ten domains: (1) service readiness (basic amenities, equipment, medicines and commodities, diagnostics, guidelines, and staff training), (2) provision of care (assessment, intervention, and documentation) and (3) experience of care. Under each domain, respondents were first asked to categorize each item using a five-point Likert scale based on its relative importance in the delivery of a high-quality package of nutrition services (unimportant, somewhat important, very important, essential or don’t know). Next respondents were presented with all the items they categorized as “essential” within a dimension and asked to rank order these items according to their relative importance for inclusion in a summary measure of nutrition service quality. Finally, an open-ended question asked respondents to identify interventions and/or items they thought were missing from the survey. The survey was administered using Qualtrics software