title: A cross-sectional validation study of the Swedish version of SWAL-QOL.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Swedish version of the Swallowing Quality of Life questionnaire (SWAL-QOL). The study design was cross-sectional and the study was performed in patients with subjective oropharyngeal dysphagia due to head and neck (H&N) cancer (n = 85) or neurological disease (n = 30) and in a sample of age- and gender-matched controls (mean age = 63 years, 57% males) without subjective dysphagia (n = 115). The Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaires were used for assessment of convergent and discriminant validity. The Swedish version of SWAL-QOL was well accepted, the response rate was high (>90%), and the number of missing items were very low (<1%). Overall, the questionnaire showed good to excellent psychometric properties, including floor and ceiling effects (range = 0-16 and 0-21%), internal consistency [Cronbach's α > 0.70 for all domains except Eating Duration (0.69) and Sleep (0.68)], test-retest reliability (intraclass correlations = 0.75-0.98) and convergent and discriminant validity as assessed by correlations between SWAL-QOL and SF-36 and HADS. SWAL-QOL also proved able to differentiate between dysphagic and nondysphagic patients (P < 0.00001) (known-groups validity) and sensitive to disease severity as measured by different food textures.
authors: Department of Otolaryngology, Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg University, Gothenburg, Sweden. caterina.finizia@gu.se
authors: Caterina
authors: C
authors: Finizia
authors: Ingrid
authors: I
authors: Rudberg
authors: Henrik
authors: H
authors: Bergqvist
authors: Anna
authors: A
authors: Rydén
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden