title: Schedule for oral-motor assessment (SOMA): methods of validation.
abstract: The Schedule for Oral Motor Assessment (SOMA) was developed for the purpose of objectively rating the oral-motor skills of preverbal children, with a view to identifying areas of deficient abilities that could have clinical significance. The instrument can be administered without special equipment, by a trained observer. Oral-motor function is assessed across a range of food textures and fluids. Ratings of oral-motor skills are largely made post hoc by analysis of a videorecording of the test administration. The test-retest and interrater reliability of the instrument have been shown to be excellent. Criterion validity was investigated by means of a novel 'seeded cluster analysis' procedure in which 127 young children were assessed, most of whom were between 8 and 24 months of age. Ten percent of the sample had known abnormal oral-motor function in association with cerebral palsy (ages between 12 and 42 months). Not only was criterion validity satisfactorily established by the analysis but an abbreviated version of the SOMA--suitable for screening purposes--was developed. This has been shown to have a positive predictive validity greater than 90% and sensitivity greater than 85% for the detection of infants with clinically significant oral-motor dysfunction.
authors.affiliation: Behavioural Sciences Unit, University of London, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Skuse
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stevenson
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reilly
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mathisen
mesh_terms: D002547:Cerebral Palsy / Q000503:physiopathology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology; D004326:Drinking / Q000502:physiology; D004435:Eating; D005183:Failure to Thrive / Q000503:physiopathology; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007225:Infant Food; D008046:Lip / Q000502:physiology; D008334:Mandible / Q000502:physiology; D008409:Mastication / Q000502:physiology; D009048:Motor Skills; D009055:Mouth / Q000502:physiology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology; D014741:Video Recording