Discriminant Ability of the Eating Assessment Tool‐10 to Detect Swallowing Safety and Efficiency Impairments

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Discriminant Ability of the Eating Assessment Tool‐10 to Detect Swallowing Safety and Efficiency Impairments Via The Laryngoscope Objectives/Hypothesis Quick, sensitive dysphagia screening tools are necessary to identify high-risk patients for further evaluation in busy multidisciplinary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinics. We examined the relationship between self-perceived dysphagia using the validated Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10) and videofluoroscopic analysis of swallowing safety and efficiency. Study Design Prospective, observational, longitudinal study. Methods Individuals with ALS completed the EAT-10 and a videofluoroscopic swallowing study. Duplicate, independent, blinded analyses of the validated Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity (DIGEST) scale were performed to index swallowing safety and efficiency (mild dysphagia: DIGEST ≥ 1, moderate dysphagia: DIGEST ≥ 2). A between-groups analysis of variance with Games-Howell test for post-hoc pairwise comparisons was performed to examine EAT-10 scores across dysphagia severity levels. Receiver operator characteristic curve analysis, area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, positive–negative predictive values (PPV, NPV), and odds ratios (OR) were derived. Results Four hundred and thirty five paired EAT-10 and DIGEST scores were analyzed. Mean EAT-10 score was 8.48 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 7.63–9.33). Individuals with dysphagia demonstrated higher EAT-10 scores (mild: 4.1 vs. 11.3, moderate: 6.0 vs. 17.5, P < .001). Mean EAT-10 scores increased across DIGEST levels (D0: 4.1, D1: 7.9, D2: 15.1, D3: 20.4, D4: 39.0). For mild dysphagia, an EAT-10 cut score of 3 was optimal: AUC 0.74 (95% CI: 0.69–0.78; sensitivity: 77%; specificity: 53%; PPV: 71%; NPV: 60%; OR: 3.5). An EAT-10 cut score of 7 optimized detection of moderate dysphagia: AUC 0.83 (95% CI: 0.78–0.87; sensitivity: 81%; specificity: 66%; PPV: 39%; NPV: 93%; OR: 8.1). Conclusion The EAT-10 is an easy-to-administer dysphagia screening tool with good discriminant ability for use in ALS clinics. Level of Evidence 2 Laryngoscope, 2022 View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.