Validity and reliability of the Mastication Observation and Evaluation (MOE) instrument.
The Mastication Observation and Evaluation (MOE) instrument was developed to allow objective assessment of a child's mastication process. It contains 14 items and was developed over three Delphi rounds. The present study concerns the further development of the MOE using the COSMIN (Consensus based Standard for the Selection of Measurement Instruments) and investigated the instrument's internal consistency, inter-observer reliability, construct validity and floor and ceiling effects. Consumption of three bites of bread and biscuit was evaluated using the MOE. Data of 59 healthy children (6-48 mths) and 38 children (bread) and 37 children (biscuit) with cerebral palsy (24-72 mths) were used. Four items were excluded before analysis due to zero variance. Principal Components Analysis showed one factor with 8 items. Internal consistency was >0.70 (Chronbach's alpha) for both food consistencies and for both groups of children. Inter-observer reliability varied from 0.51 to 0.98 (weighted Gwet's agreement coefficient). The total MOE scores for both groups showed normal distribution for the population. There were no floor or ceiling effects. The revised MOE now contains 8 items that (a) have a consistent concept for mastication and can be scored on a 4-point scale with sufficient reliability and (b) are sensitive to stages of chewing development in young children. The removed items are retained as part of a criterion referenced list within the MOE.
Department of Child Rehabilitation, Rehabilitation Centre, Sint Maartenskliniek, Postbox 9011, 6500 GM Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Institute of Health Studies, HAN University of Applied Sciences, Postbox 6960, 6503 GL Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: l.remijn@maartenskliniek.nl.
Lianne
L
Remijn
School of Public Health, Tropical Medicine and Rehabilitation Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville City, Queensland 4811, Australia; Department of Otorhinolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery, Leiden University Medical Center, Postbox 9600, 2300 RC Leiden, The Netherlands.
Renée
R
Speyer
Sint Maartenskliniek Research, Postbox 9011, 6500 GM Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Brenda E
BE
Groen
Achmea Health Insurance Company, Postbox 1717, 3800 BS Amersfoort, The Netherlands.
Jacques
J
van Limbeek
Radboud University Medical Center, Scientific Institute for Quality of Healthcare, Postbox 9101, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Maria W G
MW
Nijhuis-van der Sanden
D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000175:diagnosis*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019959:Feeding and Eating Disorders of Childhood / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008409:Mastication; D019957:Motor Skills Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis; D009426:Netherlands; D009460:Neurologic Examination / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019370:Observation; D015588:Observer Variation; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012016:Reference Values; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
Chewing; Children; Neurologic disorders; Observation; Reliability; Validity