Validation of the Persian Translation of the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire in Parkinson’s Disease Patients

Abstract EN

Dysphagia, as a common finding in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, was estimated to be present in 80–95% of this population during different stages of the disease.

The Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ) was created as a self-rated dysphagia screening tool in PD.

According to the guidelines for cross-cultural adaptation, Persian version of this questionnaire (SDQ-P) was developed.

59 Persian patients (39 men and 20 women) participated in the study.

They responded to the SDQ-P and underwent videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS).

Aspiration during VFSS was compared with questionnaire results for each individual.

Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the questionnaire was 0.86 and based on SDQ-P 15 patients (25.4%) were dysphagic, while 10 patients (16.9%) showed aspiration during VFSS.

SDQ-P sensitivity and specificity in predicting aspiration were 96.7 and 91.2%; therefore, the SDQ-P could be a prognostic tool for aspiration.

The positive predictive value (PPV), the negative predictive value (NPV), and the pre- and posttest probabilities of aspiration were 0.67, 1, 16.9%, and 66.7%, respectively.

In summary, this study demonstrated the reliability and also the feasibility of SDQ-P for screening of aspiration in Iranian patients with PD.

Further evaluation of SDQ-P in larger subject population would be suggested.