Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Persian Version of the M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory.

Introduction Dysphagia is a common issue in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) and is known to negatively impact their quality of life. To evaluate the impact of dysphagia on the quality of life of HNC patients, the M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) questionnaire was developed. Objective The present study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the MDADI for Persian-speaking individuals. The MDADI is a self-administered questionnaire designed to assess the impact of dysphagia on the quality of life of HNC patients. Methods The original MDADI questionnaire was translated into Persian using the forward-backward method, following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) for cultural adaptation. The content validity of the Persian version, MDADI-P, was assessed by 10 speech-language pathologists using the content validity index (CVI). Seventy-five HNC patients completed the MDADI-P to evaluate its convergent validity, which was determined by comparing the results with the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed using Cronbach α coefficient and intraclass correlation (ICC), respectively. Results The scale content validity index (S-CVI) for the MDADI-P was 0.90, indicating good content validity. The MDADI-P demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach α coefficient = 0.728) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.91). The total MDADI-P score exhibited a significant correlation with the physical and mental components of the SF-36 (0.456 and 0.349, respectively, p < 0.05). Conclusion The findings of the present study confirm the suitability of the MDADI-P in terms of content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.

Iranian clinical practice guideline for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a rapidly progressive neurodegeneration involving motor neurons. The 3-5 years that patients have to live is marked by day-to-day loss of motor and sometimes cognitive abilities. Enormous amounts of healthcare services and resources are necessary to support patients and their caregivers during this relatively short but burdensome journey. Organization and management of these resources need to best meet patients' expectations and health system efficiency mandates. This can only occur in the setting of multidisciplinary ALS clinics which are known as the gold standard of ALS care worldwide. To introduce this standard to the care of Iranian ALS patients, which is an inevitable quality milestone, a national ALS clinical practice guideline is the necessary first step. The National ALS guideline will serve as the knowledge base for the development of local clinical pathways to guide patient journeys in multidisciplinary ALS clinics. To this end, we gathered a team of national neuromuscular experts as well as experts in related specialties necessary for delivering multidisciplinary care to ALS patients to develop the Iranian ALS clinical practice guideline. Clinical questions were prepared in the Patient, Intervention, Comparison, and Outcome (PICO) format to serve as a guide for the literature search. Considering the lack of adequate national/local studies at this time, a consensus-based approach was taken to evaluate the quality of the retrieved evidence and summarize recommendations.

The Persian version of the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS-P): a validation study on stroke patients with dysphagia.

PURPOSE: The present study aimed to validate the Persian version of the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS-P) for stroke patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The current study was conducted in two phases: (1) translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the FOIS into Persian and (2) validation of the FOIS-P. Phase 1 included forward translation, synthesis, back-ward translation, expert panel, and pretesting. To validate the FOIS-P, inter-rater reliability, cross-validity, and sensitivity to change of the scale were investigated. To evaluate the inter-rater reliability of the FOIS-P, two speech-language pathologists, who were blind to the study aims and procedure, applied the FOIS-P to assess the oral intake of 60 stroke survivors. The cross-validity was assessed by investigating the correlation between the FOIS scores and the Video Fluoroscopy Swallowing Study (VFSS). Also, we applied the FOIS-P on 60 patients with stroke at three different times to investigate the sensitivity to change. RESULTS: Inter-rater reliability of the FOIS-P was excellent according to Cohen's Kappa calculation (K = 0.89, p<.001). Investigation of cross-validity showed that there were significant correlations between the FOIS scores and presence of dysphagia, presence of aspiration, and severity of dysphagia (p<.001). The changes of the FOIS-P scores over follow-ups revealed that the FOIS-P was sensitive to the patient's oral intake changes. CONCLUSIONS: The FOIS-P is a valid and reliable tool for assessing oral intake in stroke survivors with dysphagia. Hence, the FOIS-P may be suitable for clinical and research in the field of stroke.

National Guidelines for Cognitive Assessment and Rehabilitation of Iranian Traumatic Brain Injury Patients.

BACKGROUND: Individuals with moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) often have prolonged cognitive impairments, resulting in long-term problems with their real-life activities. Given the urgent need for evidence-based recommendations for neuropsychological management of Iranian TBI patients, the current work aimed to adapt eligible international guidelines for cognitive assessment and rehabilitation of the TBI patients in Iran. METHODS: The project was led by an executive committee, under the supervision of the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME). Following a systematic literature search and selection process, four guidelines were included for adaptation. Clinical recommendations of the source guidelines were tabulated as possible clinical scenarios for 90 PICO clinical questions covering all relevant phases of care. After summing up the scenarios, our initial list of recommendations was drafted according to the Iranian patients' conditions. The final decision-making, with the contribution of a national interdisciplinary panel of 37 experts from across the country, was conducted in two rounds using online and offline survey forms (Round 1), and face-to-face and telephone meetings (Round 2). RESULTS: A total of 63 recommendations in six sections were included in the final list of recommendations, among which 24 were considered as key recommendations. In addition, some of the recommendations were identified as fundamental, meaning that proper implementation of the other recommendations is largely dependent on their implementation. CONCLUSION: Iranian health policy makers and rehabilitation program managers are recommended to address some fundamental issues to provide the necessary infrastructure to set up an efficient cognitive rehabilitation service system.

Physicians' Perspective on a Multidisciplinary Approach to Dysphagia Management.

INTRODUCTION: Professionals need a multidisciplinary approach to manage oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD). Each team member should be aware of the signs and symptoms of OPD and collaborate with other team members to reach an optimum outcome. This study aimed to evaluate the knowledge and attitude of Iranian physicians regarding dysphagia and speech and language therapy roles in the management of dysphagia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this nonexperimental descriptive study, 133 physicians filled a researcher-made questionnaire entailing three sections, each of which recorded the participants' demographic information, OPD knowledge (23 items), and attitude toward OPD (5 items). RESULTS: Iranian physicians correctly answered 70.3% of the questions indicating that they had a moderate level of knowledge on OPD. However, only 53% of the physicians referred their patients to speech-language pathologists, and almost 50% of them reported a significant recovery after speech therapy in their patients. CONCLUSION: It seems that Iranian physicians need to adopt an interdisciplinary approach to manage OPD. Achievement of sufficient knowledge on the pathology of OPD, along with collaboration with other team members, can improve the outcome for patients with OPD.

Cross-Cultural Adaptation and Validation of the Persian Version of the M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory

Abstract Introduction Dysphagia is a common issue in patients with head and neck cancer (HNC) and is known to negatively impact their quality of life. To evaluate the impact of dysphagia on the quality of life of HNC patients, the M. D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) questionnaire was developed. Objective The present study aimed to culturally adapt and validate the MDADI for Persian-speaking individuals. The MDADI is a self-administered questionnaire designed to assess the impact of dysphagia on the quality of life of HNC patients. Methods The original MDADI questionnaire was translated into Persian using the forward-backward method, following the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) for cultural adaptation. The content validity of the Persian version, MDADI-P, was assessed by 10 speech-language pathologists using the content validity index (CVI). Seventy-five HNC patients completed the MDADI-P to evaluate its convergent validity, which was determined by comparing the results with the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were assessed using Cronbach α coefficient and intraclass correlation (ICC), respectively. Results The scale content validity index (S-CVI) for the MDADI-P was 0.90, indicating good content validity. The MDADI-P demonstrated satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach α coefficient = 0.728) and test-retest reliability (ICC = 0.91). The total MDADI-P score exhibited a significant correlation with the physical and mental components of the SF-36 (0.456 and 0.349, respectively, p < 0.05). Conclusion The findings of the present study confirm the suitability of the MDADI-P in terms of content validity, construct validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability.

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validation and Reliability of the Northwestern Dysphagia Patient Check Sheet (NDPCS) in Iran.

INTRODUCTION: Speech and language therapists (SLTs) require proper tools to detect dysphagia in the early stages. One of these screening tools is the Northwestern Dysphagia Patient Check Sheet (NDPCS). However, this tool needs to be adapted, validated, and shown to be reliable for the Persian culture. The aim of the present study was to report the validity and reliability of the Persian NDPCS (P-NDPCS). MATERIALS AND METHODS: The NDPCS has 28 items and five sections. Beaton's guidelines were followed in terms of the translation process. To report the content validity index (CVI) and the content validity ratio (CVR), eight SLTs experienced in swallowing disorders examined the content and face validities of the P-NDPCS in terms of the quality of translation, fluency, understandability, and the cultural context. In total, 140 patients with neurogenic and mechanical dysphagia were evaluated using the P-NDPCS. Internal consistency reliability was investigated using the Kuder-Richardson formula 20. The interclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used for test-retest reliability. RESULTS: The P-NDPCS preserved the 28 items and the five categories of the original version. However, semantic and food adjustments were applied due to cultural differences. The scoring system was changed from safe/unsafe to yes/no for four subsections and to normal/abnormal for the oromotor section. Food requirements were also changed. The CVR and CVI were both 75%. The P-NDPCS was shown to have good content validity. The internal reliability was 0.95, indicating excellent reliability. CONCLUSION: The equivalence between the original version of the NDPCS and the P-NDPCS was preserved. Our findings indicate that the P-NDPCSis a valid and reliable screening tool for the diagnosis of dysphagia in the early phase.

Effects of early intervention of swallowing therapy on recovery from dysphagia following stroke.

BACKGROUND: Dysphagia is common after stroke. The onset time of swallowing rehabilitation following stroke has an important role in the recovery of dysphagia and preventing of its complications, but it was either highly variable or was not stated in previous trials. The aim of this study was investigation effects of onset time of swallowing therapy on recovery from dysphagia following stroke. METHODS: Sixty dysphagia patients due to stroke range of age 60-74 (67.1 ± 3.8), participated in this randomized clinical trial study. The patients allocated in Early, Medium and Late groups, on the base of initiation of swallowing therapy after the stroke. After basic clinical and video fluoroscopic swallowing study assessments, traditional swallowing therapy was initiated 3 times per week for 3 months. The outcome measures were North-Western dysphagia patient check sheet, functional oral intake scale, video fluoroscopy, and frequency of pneumonia. Statistical analysis was done by repeated measure ANOVA, Bonferroni and χ(2) tests. RESULTS: Three groups of patients in terms of demographic and clinical characteristics were similar in the pre-treatment P > 0.050. Onset time of swallowing therapy after stroke was effective on swallowing recovery on the main outcome variables. So that in first group patients, recovery was rather than other groups P < 0.050. Furthermore, the frequency of pneumonia in the early group was less than other groups and in the early group no patients experienced pneumonia P = 0.002. CONCLUSION: Our data suggested that early interventions for dysphagia in stroke have an important role in recovery from dysphagia and prevention of complications like aspiration pneumonia.

Comparison of emotional and non-emotional word repetitions in patients with aphasia.

BACKGROUND: Aphasia is a language disorder caused by left hemisphere damage. For treatment of aphasia, in some of therapeutic approaches, the right hemisphere (RH) abilities, such as, emotional perception, is used for stimulation of the language process in the left hemisphere. The aim of this study is to investigate emotional word repetition in aphasia after a stroke, in Persian language patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifteen aphasic patients (eleven male and four female) between 45 and 65 (58/4 ± 7/8) years of age, participated in this cross-sectional study. A list of 20 emotional words and a list of 20 neutral words as stimuli were prepared and the patients were asked to repeat each word after five seconds; if a patient needed to repeat a word again, it was repeated for him/her again, and the total score for each subject was calculated. The paired t-test was used to test group mean differences and the significant level was 0.05. RESULTS: The mean and standard deviation for emotional word repetitions were 6.93 ± 1.72 and for non-emotional word repetition was 7.10 ± 2.23, and the P value = 0.892, thus, no significant difference between emotional and non-emotional word repetitions was noticed. The mean and standard deviation for the positive emotional word repetitions were 3.53 ± 3.29 and for negative word repetitions were 3.40 ± 3.56, (P = 0.751), with no significant difference between positive and negative emotional word repetitions. CONCLUSION: Despite the main hypothesis that the right hemisphere is involved in the processing of emotions, it can be stated that both hemispheres are involved in the processing of emotional words, albeit in a different and probably complementary manner.

Verbal Fluency Performance in Patients with Non-demented Parkinson's Disease.

OBJECTIVE: While Parkinson's disease (PD) has traditionally been defined by motor symptoms, many researches have indicated that mild cognitive impairment is common in non-demented PD patients. The purpose of this study was to compare verbal fluency performance in non-demented Parkinson's disease patients with healthy controls. METHOD: In this cross-sectional study thirty non-demented Parkinson's disease patients and 30 healthy controls, matched by age, gender and education, were compared on verbal fluency performance. Verbal fluency was studied with a Phonemic Fluency task using the letters F, A, and S, a semantic fluency task using the categories animals and fruits. The independent t-test was used for data analysis. RESULTS: Overall, participants generated more words in the semantic fluency task than in the phonemic fluency task. Results revealed significant differences between patients and controls in semantic fluency task (p<.05). In addition, PD patients showed a significant reduction of correctly generated words in letter fluency task. The total number of words produced was also significantly lower in the PD group (p<.05). CONCLUSION: Verbal fluency disruption is implied in non-demented PD patients in association with incipient cognitive impairment.