title: Validity and reliability of the infant breastfeeding assessment tool, the mother baby assessment tool, and the LATCH scoring system.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  We aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Infant Breastfeeding Assessment Tool (IBFAT), the Mother Baby Assessment (MBA) Tool, and the LATCH scoring system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mothers who delivered healthy, full-term infants in the Obstetrics & Gynecology Service of Gazi University, Ankara, Turkey, between December 2013 and January 2014 and their infants were included in the study. Forty-six randomly selected breastfeeding sessions were monitored and scored simultaneously by three researchers (Raters 1, 2, and 3) using LATCH, IBFAT, and the MBA Tool. Researchers put the score sheets in an envelope in order to hide them from each other. The compatibility of the scores given by three researchers was assessed by statistical methods.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found positive and significant correlation coefficients between 0.81 to 0.88 for the total MBA score, between 0.90 to 0.95 for the total IBFAT score, and between 0.85 to 0.91 for the total LATCH score. Correlation coefficients testing these three tools ranged from 0.71 to 0.88, with the minimum value being noted for the correlation between LATCH and IBFAT scores and the maximum value being noted for the correlation between LATCH and MBA scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We found positive and significant correlations between researchers' scores for 46 observations using the three assessment tools. This study showed that these above-mentioned tools were compatible for the assessment of the efficiency of breastfeeding.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neonatology, Gazi University Medical Faculty , Beşevler, Ankara, Turkey .
authors.forename: Nilgun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Altuntas
authors.forename: Canan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Turkyilmaz
authors.forename: Havva
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yildiz
authors.forename: Ferit
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kulali
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hirfanoglu
authors.forename: Esra
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Onal
authors.forename: Ebru
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ergenekon
authors.forename: Esin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koç
authors.forename: Yıldız
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Atalay
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000523:psychology / Q000639:trends; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007227:Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008425:Maternal Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D011181:Postnatal Care; D011247:Pregnancy; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012944:Social Support; D013391:Sucking Behavior; D014421:Turkey