Thicker is better? Impact of food consistencies on aspiration detection using IDDSI levels.

Background/purpose: Water is the most commonly, and often the only tested material in swallow screening. Our objective is to assess the impact of food consistencies on the reliability of trial swallows in predicting aspiration in dysphagic patients, utilizing the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (IDDSI) levels.

Methods: All trial swallows were evaluated using 5 ml of standardized test food with IDDSI levels of 0, 2, 4, 5.