Translating Ultrasound into Clinical Practice for the Assessment of Swallowing and Laryngeal Function: A Speech and Language Pathology-Led Consensus Study.
Jodi E Allen, Gemma Clunie, Joan K-Y Ma and 5 others
PMID 35201387WHAT IT FOUND
Experts ranked reliability and normative data as the top priorities before ultrasound can be used clinically for swallowing.
Current evidence is insufficient for diagnosis. Clinicians should treat ultrasound as a research or biofeedback tool only until these standards are established.
Key findings
01Reliability was ranked as the highest priority, followed by normative values and discriminant validity, indicating these are the primary gaps preventing clinical use.
02Participants agreed that while ultrasound may be reliable, it currently lacks the validity and normative data needed to serve as a diagnostic tool for disordered function.
03The study identified a need for standardised protocols and training competencies, noting that current heterogeneity in measurement approaches challenges reliability.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relied on expert consensus rather than empirical data, so it identifies priorities but does not prove that ultrasound is ineffective or effective. Participants were recruited from a specific international working group, which may introduce selection bias and limit the generalisability of the priorities to the wider clinical community. The study did not benchmark the ranked items against existing evidence, so it is unclear how much progress has already been made on some of these priorities.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret this list of priorities as a protocol for clinical implementation. It is a research agenda identifying what is missing, not a guide on how to use ultrasound today. Using ultrasound for diagnosis without the required reliability and validity data could lead to incorrect clinical decisions.