Development, Validity and Reliability of Dysphagia Assessment Test in Iranian Adults after Stroke

Introduction: Many patients who have had strokes suffer from dysphagia which can lead to aspiration pneumonia in 20% to 25% of cases. Early assessment of dysphagia has can reduce the risk of death and the cost of medical care. The present study developed a questionnaire to assess dysphagia in adult patients who have suffered strokes and determined the validity and reliability of the content. Methods: The phases of the study consisted of item generation, analysis of content validity and determination of reliability. To assess the content validity, the primary questionnaire was rated by five experts on swallowing disorders. Items with low scores were removed from the questionnaire. Next, 30 stroke patients were assessed using the final questionnaire and the reliability was assessed by Cronbach's alpha. Results: The average scores of the items ranged from 0.4 to 1. Only two items were omitted because of insufficient content validity. The Cronbach's alpha was 0.71 and the standard error of deviation was 4.96, signifying that the reliability was acceptable. Conclusion: This questionnaire has good content validity and reliability. Although it can be used for clinical assessment of stroke patients who suffer from dysphagia, the concurrent validity should be determined by comparison with to a gold standard such as videofluoroscopy.