Sep 15, 2025
1:00 PM2:00 PM
Poster Session
P832 - COMPARISON OF QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED SWALLOWING ASSESSMENT IN AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS
P832
COMPARISON OF QUESTIONNAIRE-BASED SWALLOWING ASSESSMENT IN AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS PATIENTS AND CAREGIVERS
N. Lasotova1,2,*, J. Stehlikova3, A. Betik1,3, E. Vlckova1,3
1Department of Neurology, University Hospital Brno, 2Faculty of Education, Department of Special and Inclusive Education, 3Faculty of Medicine, Masaryk University , Brno, Czech Republic
Rationale: Dysphagia is a common and severe clinical symptom of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). One way of screening is to self-assess dysphagia symptoms using questionnaires. The aim of this study was to compare the data reported by patients and caregivers in questionnaires focusing on swallowing difficulties, and their correlation with the results of an objective swallowing assessment, the flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES).
Methods: A total of 168 examinations in 56 ALS patients monitored at the Neuromuscular Centre of the University Hospital in Brno, Czech Republic, were analysed. At each clinical swallowing assessment, patients underwent FEES, while patients and their caregivers independently completed the EAT-10 (Eating Assessment Tool) and DYALS (DYsphagia in ALS) questionnaires.
Results: Intraclass correlation coefficients (>0.85), Kendall's tau (ranging from 0.51-0.92, p = 0.0003 to 6.8 x 10-37) and weighted/Cohen's kappa (except for one question ranging from 0.63-0.92) showed very good agreement between patients and their caregivers for the EAT-10 and DYALS. Cronbach's alpha ranged from 0.82 to 0.96, indicating very good to excellent internal consistency for both questionnaires. Both EAT-10 and DYALS scores correlated very well with the severity of dysphagia as objectively assessed by FEES (EAT-10 R=0.67, p<<<0.001; DYALS R=0.60, p<0.001) and were statistically very significantly higher in patients with objective evidence of aspiration risk (p<<<0.001).
Conclusion: The EAT-10 and DYALS questionnaires have very good diagnostic validity in assessing dysphagia and high internal consistency. In clinical practice, they are suitable screening tools for the assessment of dysphagia in ALS patients. Dysphagia can be validly reported not only by patients, but also by their caregivers using both questionnaires.
Disclosure of Interest: None declared