Multiprofessional screening protocol for dysphagia in patients with HIV infection: elaboration and content validity.
Luise Alexandre Rocha Soutinho, Daniel Aragão Machado, Charles Henrique Dias Marques
PMID 34706000WHAT IT FOUND
A new 16-item screening questionnaire for swallowing problems in HIV patients was judged clear and relevant by experts and hospital staff.
It passed content validation but has not yet been tested on actual patients to see if it accurately detects dysphagia.
Key findings
01The protocol achieved a Content Validity Index of 0.92 with expert judges and 0.96 with the target audience, meeting the threshold for validation.
02Two initial questions regarding eating hard foods and food going down the wrong way were revised to improve clarity and relevance before achieving acceptable agreement scores.
03The authors state that further stages of validation, including reliability testing and large-scale application, are required before the tool can be used in clinical practice.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study only validated the content and appearance of the questionnaire. It did not test whether the screening tool actually identifies dysphagia in patients (construct or criterion validity). The target audience included university students and technicians, not just experienced clinicians, which may affect how generalizable the 'ease of use' findings are to a fully qualified team. The sample size for experts was small (n=7), though this is common for content validation. The protocol was developed in a Brazilian context and may require cultural adaptation for other settings.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by the Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro (UNIRIO).
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume this screening tool has been proven to accurately detect dysphagia in patients. The study only confirmed that experts and staff find the questions clear and relevant; it did not test the tool's diagnostic accuracy or reliability in a clinical population.