INTRODUCTION:

Dysphagia is a very frequent feeding difficulty in cerebral palsy. Despite the relevance of its early detection, specific exams are rarely performed, and there is no validated and adapted tool to assess dysphagia in the Portuguese population with cerebral palsy.

OBJECTIVES:

Our aim was to study the psychometric characteristics of the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) in a sample of Portuguese individuals with cerebral palsy adapting it to be used in cerebral palsy patients.

METHODOLOGY:

The scale was applied to a convenience sample of 75 participants (aged 11 to 61 years) with clinical diagnosis of cerebral palsy and to a control group with the same number of participants. The psychometric properties (internal consistency and factor analysis) of the scale were assessed in the group with cerebral palsy.

RESULTS:

Both the internal consistency and the factor analysis suggested the exclusion of one of the items. The final version of the scale (EAT-9) presented an adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.749) and a unifactorial structure, with the latent factor explaining 37.2% of the total variance. Participants with cerebral palsy scored higher on the EAT-9 than the control group (p

< 0.001), and 28.0% (n = 21) of the participants had a score on the EAT-9 indicative of anomaly in swallowing, while in the control group only one participant (1.3%) presented such a score.

CONCLUSIONS:

The EAT-9 is an adequate tool for screening dysphagia among Portuguese individuals with cerebral palsy aged between 11 and 61 years.

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