Table 3 Functional outcomes panel for multidimensional assessment of swallowing function

MDADI

MDADI is a patient reported swallowing outcome measure, specifically designed and psychometrically validated for the head and neck cancer population

Swallowing-related QOL

Total/Composite, Global, Subscale Scores (continuous scores: 20 to 100)

WST

100mls WST is a timed swallowing test.

Swallow performance

Swallow capacity (mls per swallow)

Swallow volume (mls per swallow)

VF

VF is the gold standard radiographic measure of swallowing function. It allows quantification of more objective endpoints of swallowing function including pathophysiology, swallowing efficiency and airway protection.

Swallow physiology

MBSImpairment profile (MBSImp) (continuous scores: oral impairment 0 to 22; pharyngeal impairment 0 to 29) [33]

Airway protection

Penetration-aspiration scale (PAS) (ordinal score: 1 to 8)

Aspiration, yes/no (binary) [34]

Pharyngeal dysphagia grade

Videofluoroscopic Swallow Grade-Head & Neck (VSG-HN) (ordinal grade: 0 to 4)

PSS-HN

PSS-HN is a 3-item scale designed to evaluate functional performance of head and neck cancer patients according to normalcy of diet, eating in public and understandability of speech

Functional performance status

Normalcy of diet subscale, public eating subscale, understandability of speech scores (ordinal: 0 to 100)

EORTC QLQ C30 H&N35

QOL questionnaires

Health related QOL

Raw scores from scales and single item measures are transformed to a standardised 0–100 final scale score.