Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of speech pathology-specific questionnaire for persons with multiple sclerosis (SMS-TR).

PURPOSE: The aim of this study is to validate the speech pathology-specific questionnaire for persons with Multiple Sclerosis (SMS) in Turkish.

METHOD: A total of 218 participants were included in the study. The study group was composed of 104 persons diagnosed with MS, and the control group was 114 healthy participants without any neurological deficits. The translated version of the SMS was administered to all participants. Test-retest reliability, internal consistency, construct validity, floor and ceiling effects were investigated. Dysphagia in multiple sclerosis questionnaire (DYMUS) was used for criterion validity. Finally, sensitivity and specificity of the SMS-TR was calculated using a ROC curve analysis.

RESULT: SMS-TR has an excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha = 0.92). Item-total correlations range between 0.45 and 0.78. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) obtained for the test-retest indicates a good level of reproducibility (ICC = 0.86). According to confirmatory factor analysis, the fit measures of the scale were found to be acceptable. A significant difference was found between the total SMS scores of the study group and the control group (20.6 ± 10.4 and 1.9 ± 2.8, P  < 0.001, respectively). A statistically significant correlation was observed between SMS and DYMUS ( r  = 0.833, P  < 0.001). There were no floor and ceiling effects found in the study group. According to the ROC curve analysis, the area under the curve of SMS-TR was 0.98. The optimal cut-off value was 8, with a sensitivity of 91.3% and a specificity of 95.6%.

CONCLUSION: SMS-TR is a valid and reliable patient-reported outcome measure suitable for the assessment of language, speech, and swallowing disorders in persons with MS. A score >8 is an indicator of language, speech, and swallowing pathology for persons.