Discriminant ability of the 3‐ounce water swallow test to detect aspiration in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis
Background Given the need for quick and accurate dysphagia screening tools to optimize referral workflows and resource utilization in fast‐paced multidisciplinary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinics, we evaluated the discriminant ability of the 3 oz. water swallow test (WST) to detect aspira...
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Published in | Neurogastroenterology and motility Vol. 34; no. 7; pp. e14310 - n/a |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
01.07.2022
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Background
Given the need for quick and accurate dysphagia screening tools to optimize referral workflows and resource utilization in fast‐paced multidisciplinary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) clinics, we evaluated the discriminant ability of the 3 oz. water swallow test (WST) to detect aspiration in individuals with ALS.
Methods
A total of 212 paired 3 oz. WST (index test) and standardized videofluoroscopic swallow studies (reference test) were completed in individuals with a confirmed diagnosis of ALS. Blinded raters analyzed swallowing safety using the validated penetration‐aspiration scale (PAS; non‐aspirator: PAS < 6; aspirator: PAS ≥ 6). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, area under the curve (AUC), sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values (PPV, NPV) were calculated.
Key Results
Index test: 78 (36.8%) WSTs were scored as a fail and 134 (63.2%) as a pass. Reference test: Aspiration was confirmed in 67 (31.6%) reference tests with 145 (68.4%) reference tests verified as having no aspiration. Sensitivity and specificity of the 3 oz. WST to detect radiographically confirmed aspiration was 55.2% and 71.7%, respectively (AUC: 0.635, PPV: 47.4%, NPV: 77.6%).
Conclusions & Inferences
In this dataset, the 3 oz. WST did not demonstrate adequate sensitivity or specificity to detect aspiration in people with ALS as a stand‐alone dysphagia screening tool.
The 3‐ounce water swallow test demonstrated inadequate sensitivity and specificity to detect aspiration in 212 individuals with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Future research is needed to identify accurate, efficient, and pragmatic dysphagia screening tools in this patient population. |
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Bibliography: | Funding information Research reported in this publication was supported fully or in part by grants from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS, Award Number 1R01NS100859), the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association (ALSA Clinical Management Grant), the Dr. Jon and Nancy McEwans Wilkins Fellowship for ALS Research Fund, and the University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute and BREATHING Research and Therapeutics Center. Content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of these organizations ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Obtained Funding: EP Recruited participants: JW, LTG, JC, AA, LD, EP Performed the research: LTG, JC, AA, LD, EP Analyzed the data: CD, EP Edited Paper: EP, CD, JW, LTG, JC, AA, LD Wrote the paper: CD Designed the research study: EP Author Contributions |
ISSN: | 1350-1925 1365-2982 |
DOI: | 10.1111/nmo.14310 |