Screening or case-finding is a technique to 'quick & dirty' identify patients who might have a dysphagia or aspiration risk.
A swallowing screening is generally done by a nurse or physician and a 'positive outcome' means referral for dysphagia assessment by the speech-language therapist or other dysphagia specialist.
Objective screening methods (patient-rated)
According to the most recent systematic review (Kertscher et al., 2013) there are currently 4 screening techniques that are valid enough.
|
Screening |
Studie |
Populatie |
Sens |
Spec |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
V-VST |
Alle patiënten |
69% - 100% |
29% - 87% |
|
|
TOR-BSST |
CVA-patiënten |
80% - 96% |
64% - 68% |
|
|
3 oz water swallowing test Now: Yale Swallow Protocol |
Alle patiënten
|
97% 100%* |
49% 64%* |
|
|
Cough test |
Alle patiënten |
45% |
87% |
* Published after publication of the review.
Subjective screening methods (clinician-rated)
Another way of case-finding is the use of a questionnaires. For example the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), a short general list of swallowing complaints. Patients rate every item with 0 (no problem) to 4 (severe problem) and a total score of 3 out of 40 or higher may be an indication of a swallowing disorder and justify further assessment. It was validated and published in 2008 (Belafsky et al., 2008) and made available in several languages. Click here for the English version.
