Introduction:
EAT-10 (Eating Assessment Tool) is a symptom-based questionnaire for the systematic
assessment of dysphagia. EAT-10 has been validated for a number of languages, however
not for German. The current study aimed at the translation of EAT-10 into German and
examination of its reliability for head-and-neck cancer patients.
Methods:
The translation of EAT-10 was carried out according to the Guidelines for the translation
of foreign assessment tools. EAT-10 was filled out by 81 head-and-neck cancer patients
(76% male, age range 28 – 85, median 64; UICC tumor stage I-IV). The reliability,
namely internal consistency, was determined by means of Cronbach's Alpha. The association
between EAT-10 and tumor stage and site were analyzed by a Spearman correlation and
Kruskal-Wallis H test.
Results:
Cronbach's Alpha amounted to 0.937. Tumor stage correlated significantly with the
EAT-10 total score (ρ= 0.403, p < 0.001). Differences in the EAT-10 values depending
on the tumor site were highly significant: χ2(2)= 11.78, p = 0.003.
Conclusions:
The German version of EAT-10 demonstrated a very good reliability. The tumor stage
correlated significantly, although moderately, with the EAT-10 total score. Higher
tumor stages were associated with higher EAT-10 values, that is, with a higher severity
of dysphagia. Patients with oropharynx tumors were most concerned about their swallowing
problems, patients with tumors in the oral cavity, on the contrary, were least concerned.
The German version of EAT-10 was shown to be a reliable instrument for the assessment
of swallowing disorders in head-and-neck cancer patients.
