Swallowing disturbance questionnaire for detecting dysphagia

Area of Science:

• Otolaryngology
• Neurology
• Gastroenterology

Background:

• The Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ) was initially validated for Parkinson's disease.
• Its utility for other etiologies of dysphagia requires assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the accuracy of the SDQ in identifying dysphagia across diverse patient populations.
• To determine if the SDQ can reliably detect swallowing disturbances beyond Parkinson's disease.

Main Methods:

• Prospective study involving 100 patients with swallowing complaints.
• Patients completed the SDQ and underwent oromotor examination and fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES).
• SDQ results were compared against oromotor and FEES findings.

Main Results:

• SDQ oral phase questions showed high correlation with oromotor examination (85.71% sensitivity, 87.6% specificity).
• Laryngopharyngeal phase items correlated with FEES (67.3% sensitivity, 76.7% specificity).
• Total SDQ score correlated with comprehensive swallowing assessment (79.7% sensitivity, 73% specificity).

Conclusions:

• The SDQ is a sensitive and accurate tool for detecting dysphagia from various causes.
• The SDQ effectively indicates the necessity for advanced instrumental swallowing assessments.