Authors

1 María Reyes Meza, 2 Jacqueline Ibarra Peso

Position

1 Enfermera. Profesora instructora. Facultad de Ciencias para el cuidado de la salud. Universidad San Sebastián. Chile.2 Nutricionista. Profesora asistente. Facultad de Medicina. Universidad Católica de la Santísima Concepción. Magister en Salud Familiar. Chile.

Contact email: mariaantonietareyesmeza@gmail.com

Abstract

Validation of a questionnaire: family support to maintaining exclusive breast feeding (CAF-LME)  
Introduction/purpose: worldwide, only 43% of infants younger than 6 months receive exclusive breast feeding (EBF), in spite of its multiple widely-diffused benefits. Family factors favoring breast feeding (BF) include: being aware of their benefits, previous experiences with BF, father and grandmothers support. Tools used to evaluate BF were developed with a focus on women, but have currently been extended to other variables such as support in workplace and professional help. No tools are yet available to measure family support (FS) for EBF.
The present study aimed at validating a questionnaire to evaluate FS to EBF maintenance.
Materials and methods: a questionnaire based on characterization evidence for women maintaining or discontinuing BF and their families, Cobb's social support theory and experts interviews was developed. Validation was done by experts and a pilot trial of the tool in 88 women with infants younger than 6 months attending to a pediatric clinic in Concepción city. Reliability was measured with Cronbach's alpha and a correlation analysis was estimated.
Results: the questionnaire showed a Cronbach' alpha value of 0.77. Average correlation investigation for the statements was r= 0.4.
Conclusions: questionnaire's content validity and internal consistency were acceptable. However, a low correlation was found between each statement and the entire questionnaire.

Keywords:

breast feeding; questionnaires; studies on validation; family; family

Versión en Español

Título:

Validación de un cuestionario: apoyo familiar para el mantenimiento de la lactancia materna exclusiva (CAF-LME)