Purpose: To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Pediatric version of the caregiver administered Eating Assessment Tool.
Methods: The study included developmental phase and reported content, criterion validity, internal consistency and test-retest reliability of the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool. Literature review and the original Eating Assessment Tool were used for line-item generation. Expert consensus assessed the items for content validity over two Delphi rounds. Fifty-one healthy children to obtain normative data and 138 children with cerebral palsy to evaluate test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and criterion validity were included. The Penetration-Aspiration Scale was used to assess criterion validity.
Results: All items were found to be necessary. Content validity index was 0.91. The mean score of Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool for healthy children and children with cerebral palsy was 0.26 ± 1.83 and 19.5 ± 11, respectively. The internal consistency was high with Cronbach's alpha =0.87 for test and retest. An excellent correlation between the Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool and Penetration-Aspiration score for liquid and pudding swallowing was found (p < 0.001, r = 0.77; p < 0.001, r = 0.83, respectively). A score >4 demonstrated a sensitivity of 91.3% and specificity of 98.8% to predict penetration/aspiration.
Conclusions: The Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool was shown to be a valid and reliable tool to determine penetration/aspiration risk in children. Implications for rehabilitation The pediatric eating assessment tool: a new dyphagia-specific outcome survey for children. The Pediatric Version of the Eating Assessment Tool is a dysphagia specific, parent report outcome instrument to determine penetration/aspiration risk in children. The Pediatric Version of the Eating Assessment Tool has good internal consistency, test-retest reliability and criterion-based validity. The Pediatric Version of the Eating Assessment Tool may be utilized as a clinical instrument to assess the need for further instrumental evaluation of swallowing function in children.
Keywords: Deglutition; EAT-10; deglutition disorders; dysphagia; swallow assessment.