Principal Investigators:
- Dr. Maureen Lefton-Greif
- Dr. Bonnie Martin-Harris
Collaborators:
- Kate Davidson
- Heather McGhee
- Carolyn Barnes
Aim 1. will empirically reduce components for the tool into a reliable, parsimonious, and clinically relevant set based on measures of rater reliability and factor analysis following examination and scoring of 300 VFSS exams by trained SLPs at two clinical sites. Based on preliminary data, we predict at least 80% reliability within and between SLPs and the final set of components will be distributed into five functional domains.
Aim 2. will establish the construct validity of the components within each domain by characterizing the relationship between component scores on the tool and external indicators of health, development, and well-being including: intake status/diet recommendations, growth, respiratory and health status, quality of life, developmental and communication skills. We hypothesize that higher scores on the tool (poorer swallowing function), will be associated with poorer indicators of health, development, and well-being.
Aim 3. will measure changes in physiologic swallowing impairment scores between thin and thick liquid consistencies during the VFSS in bottle-fed children. We hypothesize impairment scores will differ between consistencies.
Martin-Harris, B., Carson, K. A., Pinto, J. M., & Lefton-Greif, M. A. (2020). BaByVFSSImP© A Novel Measurement Tool for Videofluoroscopic Assessment of Swallowing Impairment in Bottle-Fed Babies: Establishing a Standard. Dysphagia, 35(1), 90–98. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-019-10008-x
Lefton-Greif, M. A., McGrattan, K. E., Carson, K. A., Pinto, J. M., Wright, J. M., & Martin-Harris, B. (2018). First Steps Towards Development of an Instrument for the Reproducible Quantification of Oropharyngeal Swallow Physiology in Bottle-Fed Children. Dysphagia, 33(1), 76–82. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-017-9834-y
