Chinese version of the Mann assessment of swallowing ability-oral cancer: revision and evaluation of reliability and validity

Abstract

Objective: To translate and revise the Mann assessment of swallowing ability-cancer (MASA-C) into Chinese according to postoperative patients with oral cancer and to evaluate the reliability and validity of Mann assessment of swallowing ability-oral cancer (MASA-OC) in postoperative patients with oral cancer. Methods: The MASA-C was translated into Chinese through pre-translation, reconciliation and back translation, then the Chinese MASA-C was revised to MASA-OC according to postoperative patients with oral cancer by expert panel and pre-investigation. One hundred and seven patients recieved oral cancer surgery in Peking University School and Hospital of Stomatology were selected by convenient sampling and investigated to evaluate the reliability and validity of the MASA-OC. The volume viscosity swallow test (V-VST) was used to determine the best diagnosis threshold of MASA-OC for dysphagia. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value were calculated and analyzed. Results: The Chinese MASA-OC contained 15 items. The Cronbach's coefficient was 0.868. The content validity showed that the scale-level content validity index (S-CVI) was 1.00, the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) was 1.00 and the intraclass correlation coefficient between the researchers and the other reviewers was 0.985. The best diagnosis threshold of MASA-OC for dysphagia was 105, the sensitivity was 95.0%, the specificity was 92.5%, the positive predictive value was 97.4% and the negative predictive value was 86.2%. Conclusions: The introduction process of MASA-OC was scientific. MASA-OC showed good reliability and validity and reliable diagnostic efficacy MASA-OC could be used as an effective tool for scientific research and clinical practice of dysphagia in postoperative patients of oral cancer.