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Quality of Life in Swallowing Disorders (SWAL-QOL)
Availability

This instrument is available at SWAL-QOL. For further information please contact Dr. Colleen McHorney at cam1325@comcast.net.
Classification
NeuroRehab Supplemental - Highly Recommended:
Recommendations for Use: Indicated for studies requiring a measure of dysphagia.
 
Supplemental: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Parkinson's Disease
Short Description of Instrument
The Quality of Life in Swallowing Disorders (SWAL-QOL) (McHorney et al., 2000a, 2000b, 2002) was specifically designed to assess dysphagia-related impact on patients and its validity has been assessed in varied samples of patients, including patients with neurodegenerative diseases (Rinkel et al., 2009; Timmerman et al., 2014). The SWAL-QOL can be administered by an interviewer, self-administered, or be completed by a proxy (i.e., a close family member) (McHorney et al., 2000a).
Scoring
The SWAL-QOL is a 44 item tool that assesses 10 quality-of-life concepts related to swallowing on a 5 point scale. The 10 quality-of-life concepts include: Food selection, Burden, Mental health, Social functioning, Fear, Eating duration, Eating desire, Communication, Sleep and Fatigue (McHorney et al., 2002).
Scoring and Psychometric Properties
The SWAL-QOL is a 44 item tool that assesses 10 quality-of-life concepts related to swallowing on a 5 point scale. The 10 quality-of-life concepts include: Food selection, Burden, Mental health, Social functioning, Fear, Eating duration, Eating desire, Communication, Sleep and Fatigue (McHorney et al., 2002).
Rationale/Justification
NeuroRehab Specific:
Strengths: Well-validated across a wide range of diseases and dysphagia severity; N=386 in validation study.
 
Weaknesses: 44 items, large patient burden with the number of questions and the time required to complete; requires SAS program to officially score.
References
Key References:
McHorney CA, Bricker DE, Kramer AE, Rosenbek JC, Robbins J, Chignell KA, Logemann JA, Clarke C. The SWAL-QOL outcomes tool for oropharyngeal dysphagia in adults: I. Conceptual foundation and item development. Dysphagia. 2000a;15(3):115-121.
 
McHorney CA, Bricker DE, Robbins J, Kramer AE, Rosenbek JC, Chignell KA. The SWAL-QOL outcomes tool for oropharyngeal dysphagia in adults: II. Item reduction and preliminary scaling. Dysphagia. 2000b;15(3):122-133.
 
McHorney CA, Robbins J, Lomax K, et al. The SWAL-QOL and SWAL-CARE outcomes tool for oropharyngeal dysphagia in adults: III. Documentation of reliability and validity. Dysphagia. 2002;17(2):97-114.
 
Additional References:
Carneiro D, das Gracas Wanderley de Sales Coriolano M, Belo LR, de Marcos Rabelo AR, Asano AG, Lins OG. Quality of life related to swallowing in Parkinson's disease. Dysphagia. 2014;29(5):578-582.
 
Keage M, Delatycki M, Corben L, Vogel A. A systematic review of self-reported swallowing assessments in progressive neurological disorders. Dysphagia. 2015;30(1):27-46.
 
McHorney CA, Martin-Harris B, Robbins J, Rosenbek J. Clinical validity of the SWAL-QOL and SWAL-CARE outcome tools with respect to bolus flow measures. Dysphagia. 2006;21(3):141-148.
 
Plowman-Prine EK, Sapienza CM, Okun MS, et al. The relationship between quality of life and swallowing in Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord. 2009;24(9):1352-1358.
 
Rinkel RN, Verdonck-de Leeuw IM, Langendijk JA, van Reij EJ, Aaronson NK, Leemans CR. The psychometric and clinical validity of the SWAL-QOL questionnaire in evaluating swallowing problems experienced by patients with oral and oropharyngeal cancer. Oral oncology. 2009;45(8):e67-e71.
 
Timmerman AA, Speyer R, Heijnen BJ, Klijn-Zwijnenberg IR. Psychometric characteristics of health-related quality-of-life questionnaires in oropharyngeal dysphagia. Dysphagia. 2014;29(2):183-198.
 
Document last updated January 2022