A Scoping Review of Non-Instrumental Dysphagia Screening Tools: Building Flowcharts to Guide Tool Selection

Authors

• Yu-Chun Chang, School of Nursing, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
• Ming-Jhuan Wang, School of Nursing, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
• Shu-Fen Siao, School of Nursing, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
• Yu-Juan Xu, Green Rice Home Healthcare Center, New Taipei City, Taiwan
• Meng-Shan Wu, School of Nursing, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Nursing, Buddhist Taichung Tzu Chi General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan
• Tyng-Guey Wang, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
• Cheryl Chia-Hui Chen, School of Nursing, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, TaiwanFollow

Abstract

Selecting an appropriate non-instrumental dysphagia screening tool is a complex process. This scoping review aimed to identify dysphagia screening tools with established reliability and validity, and to develop administrator-based flowcharts to guide tool selection across different clinical populations. A scoping review was conducted using studies identified in CINAHL, Embase, PsycINFO, PubMed, and Web of Science. Our search was guided by five keywords: “dysphagia,” “deglutition,” “screening,” “test,” and “measure.” Original studies about the development and validation of non-instrumental dysphagia screening tools were selected. Six reviewers were involved in the review process, and at least two reviewers independently completed each step of the review process. All discrepancies between reviewers were resolved by consensus. To build the flowcharts, each tool was stratified by four criteria: tool administrators, whether reliability data available, whether validity data available, and eight targeted populations. Of 28,751 studies identified, 269 underwent full-text review with data extraction. From 269 included studies, we identified 125 tools and developed six administrator-based tool selection flowcharts for physicians, speech-language therapists, nurses, patients/caregivers, other health professionals, and non-specified personnel. Covering eight targeted populations, 64 fully tested screening tools were summarized based on their characteristics and psychometric properties to facilitate future application. Although controversies remain regarding who is the most appropriate healthcare worker to conduct screenings, our six administrator-based tool selection flowcharts provide a structured and practical reference for clinicians and researchers to select appropriate tools. Further research is warranted as not all administrators or targeted populations have corresponding tools available for clinical or research purposes.

Recommended Citation

Chang, Yu-Chun; Wang, Ming-Jhuan; Siao, Shu-Fen; Xu, Yu-Juan; Wu, Meng-Shan; Wang, Tyng-Guey; and Chen, Cheryl Chia-Hui (2026) "A Scoping Review of Non-Instrumental Dysphagia Screening Tools: Building Flowcharts to Guide Tool Selection," Rehabilitation Practice and Science: Vol. 2026: Iss. 2, Article 9.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.6315/3005-3846.2287
Available at: https://rps.researchcommons.org/journal/vol2026/iss2/9