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Development and validation of a new mealtime assessment tool (MAT) for patients with dysphagia: A cross sectional study.

PURPOSE
This study aimed to create a new quantitative and qualitative Mealtime Assessment Tool (MAT) to be administered by the not institutional caregiver to explore the dysphagic patient's mealtime behavior.


METHODS
The development and validation process consisted of three steps: firstly, identification of items for the questionnaire, then pilot testing phase of the first version of the instrument and finally a psychometric evaluation in which the test was administered to the target population (adult inpatients with diagnosed and undiagnosed oropharyngeal dysphagia).


RESULTS
A factorial analysis explained 51% of the variance and grouped the 12 items of the scale into three categories that defined: a) structural setting and compliance at mealtime, b) behavioral attitude at mealtime, c) structural setting as a function of possible distractibility. The concurrent validity using the Dysphagia Outcome Severity Scale and Three Oz Water Swallow Test, as the gold standard, was r =0.01. Cronbach's alpha was 0.709. Stability test-retest reliability had ICC values of 0.980 p=0.01. The ROC curve using as state variable the De Pippo test as a dichotomius variable showed the under-curve area as 0.830 (95% CI, 0.763 to 0.897).


CONCLUSIONS
The validation process led to the conclusion that the MAT is a valid, reliable and stable scale for caregivers.