The Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool
The Pediatric Eating Assessment Tool
There is no dysphagia spesific and patient/parent centered outcome instrument in the
 pediatric population. The purpose of this investigation is to develop the Pediatric version
 of the Eating Assessment Tool (PEDI-EAT-10) and investigate its validity and reliability.
The evaluation of pediatric swallowing disorders includes clinical and instrumental
 techniques. The clinical evaluation is important for clinical decision-making and to assess
 the need for an instrumental evaluation of swallowing. A recent systematic review suggested
 that the currently available non-instrumental assessments for clinicians to evaluate
 swallowing and feeding function in the pediatric population have wide variations in design,
 assessment domains, and target groups. It was concluded that there is a significant need for
 standardized assessment tools with good psychometric properties in the pediatric population.
 The existing instruments measure the presence or absence and frequency of challenges related
 to eating/feeding problems in pediatrics, they do not comprehensively measure oropharyngeal
 phase swallowing problems or do not reflect the severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia symptoms.
 The 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), which was designed for adult patients, is a good
 model for this current research. It has proven highly successful in quantifying initial
 dysphagia symptom severity and in monitoring treatment efficacy in a vast array of dysphagia
 etiologies. Although the EAT-10 is a symptom survey, it has been able to predict objective
 evidence of swallowing dysfunction. There is no dysphagia spesific and patient/parent
 centered outcome instrument in the pediatric population such as the EAT-10. The purpose of
 this investigation is to develop the Pediatric version of the Eating Assessment Tool
 (PEDI-EAT-10) and investigate its validity and reliability.
The inclusion criteria are:

 -  Age above 18 months,

 -  Fed orally,

 -  Referred due to parent complaints about their child's swallowing function,

 -  Not admitted a swallowing center before.

 The exclusion criteria are:

 -  Age below 18 months,

 -  Fed nonorally,

 -  No parent complaints about their child's swallowing function,

 -  Admitted a swallowing center before.