Purpose: This study aimed to develop a non-invasive marker to screen for Pediatric Oropharyngeal Dysphagia among susceptible groups," The Pediatric Dysphagia Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ), “and compare its efficacy to clinical and instrumental assessments.
Patients and Methods: We applied the 12-item "yes/no" Pediatric Dysphagia Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) to a study set of 60 children from Oropharyngeal Dysphagia susceptible groups, such as children with neurodevelopmental disorders, Down syndrome, underweight of unknown etiology, and submucous cleft. We also administered the questionnaire to 60 healthy controls with the same age range and sex distribution. In addition, we validated the questionnaire responses to clinical feeding-swallowing observation outcomes supported by clinical consensus in Cases and Controls. Finally, we performed a Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES) study on the dysphagia-susceptible group.
Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the questionnaire scores between the cases and controls. In our Dysphagia susceptible group of patients, the PDSQ showed a cutoff score of 3 predicted Oropharyngeal Dysphagia diagnosed with clinical feeding observation with 97.9% sensitivity and 100% specificity, a cutoff score of 7 predicted penetration with 83.3% sensitivity and 80.6% specificity, and a cutoff score of 9 predicted aspiration with 84.2% sensitivity and 85.4% specificity.
Conclusion: The PDSQ showed acceptable Sensitivity and Specificity, indicating its validity as a screening tool for pediatric Oropharyngeal Dysphagia.