From DYMUS to DYPARK: Validation of a Screening Questionnaire for Dysphagia in Parkinson's Disease.
Carlotta Dagna, Micol Avenali, Roberto De Icco and 7 others
PMID 34264379WHAT IT FOUND
A DYMUS score of 6 flagged higher swallowing risk in Parkinson's disease.
Patients and caregivers gave similar scores, supporting use before specialist swallowing tests.
Key findings
01The 10-item DYMUS questionnaire gave consistent answers across its items in 103 people with Parkinson's disease (Cronbach's alpha 0.79).
02When anchored to FEES-based DOSS scores, a DYMUS score of 6 was the cut-off for identifying patients at higher risk of dysphagia, with sensitivity 0.7 and specificity 0.84.
03Patients and caregivers completed the DYMUS with similar total scores, and their scores were positively related (R 0.68).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 51 of the 103 enrolled patients had FEES, so the FEES-based cut-off was derived in a subgroup. Test-retest reliability was assessed in only 20 patients, and repeatability was moderate for items 6 and 7. Patients with MMSE scores of 21 or lower were excluded, so performance in more severe cognitive impairment is unknown. The study did not test atypical parkinsonisms, so the results cannot be assumed to apply there. The study was cross-sectional, so it reports screening performance at one time point, not whether using the screen improves swallowing outcomes.
Declared interests
Funding came from SIRN and Università degli Studi di Pavia; the paper does not report other conflicts.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat a DYMUS score of 6 as a diagnosis. It flags higher risk with sensitivity 0.7 and specificity 0.84, so it should prompt further swallowing assessment rather than confirm dysphagia.