Sydney Swallow Questionnaire: European Portuguese translation

Abstract

Objectives: Dysphagia is a swallowing disorder commonly diagnosed after stroke. Due to its serious consequences, an early diagnosis is fundamental. The patients with an early diagnosis should be referred for further clinical assessment. These assessments should include several evaluation techniques, including the use of self-administered Functional Health Status inventories. In Portugal, there is a lack of validated assessment scales and/or questionnaires related to dysphagia. The aim of this project is the translation and cultural adaptation of the Sidney Swallow Questionnaire (SSQ) to European Portuguese (EP). Methods: The English version of the SSQ was translated into EP by two independent bilingual translators, fluent in both languages, with EP as their mother tongue. A common version was agreed. A bilingual translator fluent in both languages, and whose mother tongue is English, completed back translation. A panel of experts composed of several health professionals with experience in the area, analysed this version and classified all its items in terms of their semantic, idiomatic, experiential and conceptual equivalence (phase I). Some modifications were then suggested and incorporated. The new version was re-examined by the same group (phase II). The data resulting from both phases were statistically analysed using the Content Validity Index (CVI). Results: The CVI values obtained for phase I were: 0.97, 0.98, 0.96 and 0.95, showing very good agreement between experts for semantic, idiomatic, experiential and conceptual domains. The CVI values for phase II were identical to the ones presented in phase I. Conclusions: The SSQ-EP version presented very good CVI values for semantic, idiomatic, experiential and conceptual domains. The SSQ is a quick and simple self-filling questionnaire and allows quantifying the symptomatic severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia as experienced by the patient. Further studies are needed in order to analyse its psychometric characteristics.