title: A short form of the neonatal intensive care unit family needs inventory.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The identification of parental needs in Neonatal Intensive Care Units is essential to design and implement family-centered care. This article aims to validate the Neonatal Intensive Care Units Family Needs Inventory for the Portuguese population, and to propose a Short Form.
  
  
  METHODS
  A linguistic adaptation of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units Family Needs Inventory, a self-report scale with 56-items, was performed. The instrument was administered to 211 parents of infants hospitalized in all level III Neonatal Intensive Care Units in the North of Portugal, 15-22 days after admission (July of 2013-June of 2014). The number of items needed to achieve reliability close to 0.8 was calculated using by the Spearman-Brown formula. The global goodness of fit of the scale was evaluated using the comparative fit index. Construct validity was assessed through association of each dimension score with socio-demographic and obstetric characteristics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Exploratory factor analysis revealed two dimensions, one focused on parents' needs and another on the infant's needs. To compose the Short Form Inventory, items with ceiling effect were eliminated and 22 items were submitted to confirmatory analysis, which supported the existence of two dimensions (CFI=0.925). The Short Form showed a high degree of reliability (alpha≥0.76). Less educated and older parents more frequently attributed a significantly higher importance to parent-centered needs, while parents of multiples revealed a tendency to value infant-centered needs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The Short Form of the Neonatal Intensive Care Units Family Needs Inventory is a brief, simple, and valid instrument with a high degree of reliability. Further studies are needed to explore associations with practices of family-centered care.
authors.affiliation: EpiUnit - Institute of Public Health, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal. Electronic address: elisabete.alves@ispup.up.pt.
authors.forename: Elisabete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alves
authors.affiliation: EpiUnit - Institute of Public Health, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Department of Clinical Epidemiology, Predictive Medicine and Public Health, Medical School, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Milton
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Severo
authors.affiliation: EpiUnit - Institute of Public Health, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal; Global Public Health Doctoral Programme, Institute of Public Health, Universidade do Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amorim
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Catarina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grande
authors.affiliation: EpiUnit - Institute of Public Health, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Susana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Silva
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D022143:Family Nursing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature; D007363:Intensive Care Units, Neonatal / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011174:Portugal; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D011594:Psychometrics; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Avaliação de necessidades; Estudos de validação como assunto; Needs assessment; Neonatal intensive care units; Pais; Parents; Unidade de Cuidados Intensivos Neonatais; Validation studies as topic