Evaluation Methods of Dysphagia in Adults With Intellectual Disability: A Scoping Review.
Most dysphagia tests used with adults with ID are unproven—stick to the four validated ones like VFSS.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Sauna-Aho et al. (2025) looked at every dysphagia test used with adults who have intellectual disability.
They screened 31 studies and listed every swallow test, from bedside checklists to X-ray swallow studies.
The goal was to see which tools give trustworthy results and which ones lack proof.
What they found
Only four tests showed solid evidence of validity and reliability.
The rest either had weak data or no psychometric checks at all.
VFSS, the video X-ray swallow study, was one of the four validated tools.
How this fits with other research
Early et al. (2012) found the same pattern in quality-of-life tools: only six of 24 passed psychometric muster for adults with ID.
Goodwin et al. (2012) saw a similar gap in substance-use screening—lots of tools, few with proof.
Together these reviews show a repeating problem: clinicians have many ID assessments to pick from, but most lack scientific backing.
Why it matters
If you support adults with ID, swallow safety is daily business.
Pick only the four validated tools—start with VFSS—and skip the unprobed checklists.
This protects clients from missed aspiration and saves you from guessing.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Dysphagia is a serious but underdiagnosed health-related condition in people with intellectual disability (ID). In this scoping review, we provide an overview of dysphagia evaluation methods used in adults with ID. The data from 31 studies were analyzed qualitatively by identifying the evaluation methods and the validity and reliability of the methods. To summarize, dysphagia has been evaluated in many ways and for different purposes. The most common evaluation method was a videofluorographic swallowing study (VFSS). Four of the reviewed methods were found to be valid and reliable in detecting swallowing problems in adults with ID.
Intellectual and developmental disabilities, 2025 · doi:10.1352/1934-9556-63.2.136