Page 80 - Functional impairment and cues for rehabilitation of head and neck cancer patients -

Chapter 3
Convergent validity
The Spearman correlation coefficients between swallowing outcomes and the SPEAD-rate and speed of individual consistencies are listed in Table 5. The correlation between the SPEAD-rate and subjective outcomes was moderately strong (ρ ranging from 0.68 to 0.72). The correlation between objective outcomes was fair to moderately strong (ρ ranging from 0.49 to 0.70). The drinking speed of thin liquid was less correlated to subjective as well as objective outcomes than thick liquid and solid.
Correlation coefficients of the SPEAD-rate were higher compared to those of the ingestion speed of thin liquid, comparable to the outcome of the WST, or solid, comparable to the outcome of the TOMASS, for both subjective and objective swallowing outcomes.
Divergent validity
Correlations of the SPEAD-rate with participant-reported dyspnea, pain and fatigue was weak (ρ between 0.25 and 0.28) (Table 5).
Table 5 Spearman’s correlation coefficients (ρ) of swallowing
outcomes with results of the SPEAD-test.
Spearman’s ρ with p value
SPEAD-rate
Ingestion speed thin liquid
Ingestion speed thick liquid
Ingestion speed solid
Subjective swallowing outcomes
Self-rated percentage eating and drinking speed
Self-rated percentage swallow function
SWAL-QOL total score
SWAL-QOL eating duration subscore
Degree of dysphagia by SLP
0.71, p < .001
0.72, p < .001
-0.68, p < .001 -0.69, p < .001
-0.70, p < .001
0.61, p < .001
0.61, p < .001
-0.53, p < .001 -0.57, p < .001
-0.56, p < .001
0.55, p < .001 -0.35, p = .066 -0.34, p = .067 0.36, p = .002
-0.18, p = .132
-0.16, p = .192 -0.19, p = .118
0.74, p < .001
0.71, p < .001
-0.67, p < .001 -0.70, p < .001
-0.68, p < .001
0.67, p < .001 -0.44, p = .009 -0.32, p = .344 0.50, p < .001
-0.29, p = .011
-0.32, p = .005 -0.37, p = .001
0.64, p < .001
0.65, p < .001
-0.67, p < .001 -0.66, p < .001
-0.62, p < .001
0.64, p < .001 -0.32, p = .110 -0.19, p .344 0.45, p < .001
-0.41, p = .001
-0.22, p = .078 -0.34, p = .005
Objective swallowing outcomes
78
FOIS
DIGEST grade
Aspiration on VFS Maximal mouth opening
Participant-reported dyspnea
Participant-reported pain
Participant-reported fatigue
0.70, p < .001 -0.51, p = .001 -0.50, p = .001 0.49, p < .001
-0.28, p = .015
-0.25, p = .033 -0.28, p = .014
Other outcomes
Abbreviations: DIGEST = Dynamic Imaging Grade for Toxicity, FOIS = functional oral intake scale, SLP = speech language pathologist, SWAL-QOL = Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire.
Expected
Expected convergent correlation
divergent correlation