TY  - JOUR
A1  - Frank, Ulrike
A1  - van den Engel-Hoek, Lenie
A1  - Nogueira, Dalia
A1  - Schindler, Antonio
A1  - Adams, Sasha
A1  - Curry, Morgan
A1  - Huckabee, Maggie-Lee
T1  - International standardisation of the test of masticating and swallowing solids in children
JF  - Journal of oral rehabilitation
N2  - The Test of Masticating and Swallowing Solids (TOMASS) is a validated assessment tool measuring the efficiency of solid bolus intake by four quantitative parameters: discrete bites, masticatory cycles, swallows and time to ingest a single cracker. A normative database for adults (20-80+ years) has previously been established. The objective of this study was to investigate the applicability and reliability of the TOMASS in children and adolescents (TOMASS-C) and to establish the normative database for this younger population. We collected data from 638 participants (male: 311, female: 327) in five age groups (4-18 years) with five different but very similar test crackers in four countries. Significant effects of bolus type (cracker), age group and gender on the TOMASS parameters were identified, requiring stratification of the TOMASS-C database by these variables. Intra-rater reliability was excellent (ICC > 0.94) for all parameters; inter-rater reliability was moderate for "number of swallows" (ICC = 0.54), good for "bites" (ICC = 0.78) and "time" (ICC = 0.82), and excellent for "masticatory cycles" (ICC = 0.96). The "Test of Masticating and Swallowing Solids in Children (TOMASS-C)" was identified to be a reliable diagnostic tool for the comprehensive measurement of discrete oral stage components of solid bolus ingestion, standardised by a large normative database that covers age groups from preschoolers to young adults. While differences between gender groups were less pronounced than in the adult population, previous results relating to changes in masticatory and swallowing as a function of age are confirmed by our data.
KW  - mastication
KW  - normative data
KW  - reliability
KW  - solid bolus
KW  - swallowing
Y1  - 2018
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1111/joor.12728
SN  - 0305-182X
SN  - 1365-2842
VL  - 46
IS  - 2
SP  - 161
EP  - 169
PB  - Wiley
CY  - Hoboken
ER  -