A Review of the Psychometric Properties of Breastfeeding Assessment Tools

Conclusion: Seven self-report instruments were found to be valid, reliable, and feasible measures for assessing breastfeeding relationships. But two of the seven self-report instruments were only tested in one study, and only one study used a self-report instrument (the Breastfeeding Attrition Prediction Tool-BAPT) to test the effectiveness of an intervention. It is recommended that researchers consider using the existing self-report instruments in future experimental studies to test the feasibility and effectiveness of breastfeeding interventions. Moreover, it is important to continue to conduct more well designed research to further test and refine these self-report instruments in a variety of diverse populations and ethnic groups and to further examine their psychometric properties. Clinical applications have not been well addressed and need to be considered in the design of these future works. Understanding how to best support the breastfeeding mother must be the long-term outcome of instrument development in this area.