title: Objective Evaluation Tool for Texture-Modified Food (OET-TMF): Development of the Tool and Validation.
abstract: Texture-modified diets (TMDs) should fulfil nutritional goals, guarantee homogenous texture, and meet food safety regulations. The food industry has created texture-modified food (TMF) that meets the TMD requirements of quality and safety for inpatients. To design and develop a tool that allows the objective selection of foodstuffs for TMDs that ensures nutritional requirements and swallowing safety of inpatients in order to improve their quality of life, especially regarding their food satisfaction. An evaluation tool was designed to objectively determine the adequacy of food included in the TMD menus of a hospital. The "Objective Evaluation Tool for Texture-Modified Food" (OET-TMF) consists of seven items that evaluate the food's nutritional quality (energy and protein input), presence of allergens, texture and viscosity, cooking, storage type, useful life, and patient acceptance. The total score ranged from 0 to 64 and was divided into four categories: high quality, good quality, medium quality, and low quality. Studying four different commercial TMFs contributed to the validation of the tool. All the evaluated products scored between high and good regarding quality. There was a tendency (p = 0.077) towards higher consumption and a higher overall quality of the product obtained with the OET-TMF. The product that scored highest with the tool was the best accepted; the product with the lowest score had the highest rate of refusal. The OET-TMF allows for the objective discrimination of the quality of TMF. In addition, it shows a certain relationship between the observed and assessed quality intake.
authors.affiliation: Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, Altos de Nava s/n, 24008, León, Spain. calleja.alicia@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Alicia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calleja-Fernández
authors.affiliation: Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, Altos de Nava s/n, 24008, León, Spain.
authors.forename: Begoña
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Pintor-de-la-Maza
authors.affiliation: Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, Altos de Nava s/n, 24008, León, Spain.
authors.forename: Alfonso
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vidal-Casariego
authors.affiliation: Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, Altos de Nava s/n, 24008, León, Spain.
authors.forename: Isidoro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Cano-Rodríguez
authors.affiliation: Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics Unit, Department of Endocrinology and Nutrition, Complejo Asistencial Universitario de León, Altos de Nava s/n, 24008, León, Spain.
authors.forename: María D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Ballesteros-Pomar
mesh_terms: D003679:Deglutition; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy*; D004032:Diet / Q000379:methods*; D005502:Food / Q000592:standards*; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D005521:Food Service, Hospital; D006801:Humans; D009753:Nutritive Value; D014783:Viscosity
keywords: Deglutition; Deglutition disorders; Diet; Texture-modified food; Tool; Viscosity