Schedule for Oral Motor Assessment (SOMA): administration of the Italian version on a sample of children. Validation and discussion of its clinical utility
Sarah Gordini
The study concerns the administration of the SOMA scale (Schedule for Oral Motor Assessment – Italian version) on a sample of children with neurological dysphagia and on a control group, with the objectives of defining the psychometric properties of validity and reliability and discussing its clinical utility compared to a qualitative observation of oral motor skills conducted at meal times. Data were collected through the course of the test (which involves the administration of different textures of food to the baby) and through the compilation of records; the latter was conducted through the observation of video-recordings by two examiners separately; this recording was also repeated by both the evaluators at a distance of 10-15 days. Results, although obtained on a small sample, show that SOMA possesses good validity and reliability and that the test is a useful tool in clinical practice.
Keywords
Pediatric dysphagia, Oral motor skills, Clinical evaluation, SOMA scale, Validation.