A Systematic and a Scoping Review on the Psychometrics and Clinical Utility of the Volume-Viscosity Swallow Test (V-VST) in the Clinical Screening and Assessment of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia
Foods
Riera, S. A., Marin, S., et al. (2021).
Foods, 10(8), Article 1900.
This systematic review and meta-analysis investigates the psychometric properties of the volume-viscosity swallow test (V-VST) for the screening and diagnosis of oropharyngeal dysphagia in patients.
CIBERehd, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain); Strategic Action on Oropharyngeal Dysphagia, Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Spain); Proyectos de Investigación Clínica Independiente 2020 de la Acción Estratégica en Salud 2017–2020 (Spain); Fundació Salut del Consorci Sanitari del Maresme (Spain); Fundació de Recerca en Gastroenterologia (FUREGA) (Spain)
September 2008 to November 2020
Published, original studies (excluding conference abstracts, posters, and textbooks)
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Meta-analysis of four studies investigating the validity of using the volume-viscosity swallow test (V-VST) reported sensitivity of 93.2%, specificity of 81.4%, negative likelihood ratio (-LHR) of 0.08, positive likelihood ratio (+LHR) of 5.01, and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) of 51.18 (95% CI=15.29-171.32) for the clinical diagnosis of oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) in patients. For the clinical diagnosis of impaired safety of swallow safety, V-VST demonstrated sensitivity of 86.1%, specificity of 68.5%, -LHR of 0.20, +LHR of 2.73, and DOR of 11.67 (95% CI=5.47-24.92). For identification of aspiration, V-VST demonstrated sensitivity of 93.1%, specificity of 42.3%, -LHR of 0.16, +LHR of 1.63, and DOR of 10.17 (95% CI=5.47-24.92). The authors of this review conclude that these psychometric properties support the high clinical utility of using V-VST as a screening instrument for OD, impaired swallow safety, and identifying aspiration in low-risk populations (e.g., primary care). In populations with a high risk of OD (e.g., stroke patients, geriatric patients), the V-VST could be considered a valid clinical diagnostic assessment tool.
