CONSTRUCTION AND VALIDATION OF THE NEONATAL NUTRITIONAL RISK SCREENING TOOL

ABSTRACT Objective: To develop and validate both the content and reliability of the Neonatal Nutritional Risk Screening Tool (FARNNeo). Methods: Methodological study, convergent care. The instrument was built prior to the literature review and was analyzed by eight judges, during three cycles of the Delphi technique. The judges assessed their relevance and clarity with responses on the Likert scale with three levels, in addition to suggestions. The validation of the instrument was calculated using the agreement rate and content validity index (CVI). After content validation, the instrument was applied by four assisting nutritionists to verify reliability, using Cronbach`s alpha coefficient and the agreement between the evaluators by the Kappa coefficient. Results: All items of the instrument`s content reached the minimum agreement rate (90%) and/or CVI (0.9), except for item three, which in the first cycle obtained CVI 0.77 and 40% of agreement and, in the second cycle, CVI 0.75 and 38% agreement. At the end of the third cycle, all items had CVI values above 0.9. In the instrument application, alpha of 0.96 and Kappa of 0.74 were obtained, which reflect adequate values of internal consistency and agreement between the evaluators. Conclusions: FARNNeo proved to be reliable, clear, relevant, and reproducible for tracking early nutritional risk, systematizing the care of Brazilian newborns admitted to an intensive care unit.