1. Nestlé Health Science
  2. Dysphagia
  3. EATING ASSESSMENT TOOL (EAT-10)

EATING ASSESSMENT TOOL (EAT-10)

WHAT IS THE EAT-10?

  • The EAT-10 is an eating assessment tool which has 10 questions to help measure swallowing difficulties.
  • The EAT-10 can be completed in as little as 2 minutes.
  • The EAT-10 can help identify those at risk of dysphagia but is not a diagnostic tool.  

HOW DO I USE THE EAT-10?

  • Answer each of the 10 questions.
  • Tally the total score. 
  • The EAT-1O may also be used to observe changes in symptoms over time.

WHAT COMES AFTER THE EAT-10?

  • If the score is 3 or higher and/or you are concerned about your patient’s swallowing, they may need to be assessed for dysphagia.
  • You may need to refer your patient to a swallowing clinic, or to a speech language pathologist, occupational therapist or a registered dietitian who has training in dysphagia assessments to determine a diagnosis.

EVIDENCE TO SUPPORT THIS TOOL

Since the original 2008 publication by Belafsky and colleagues1 detailing the development of the EAT-10, there are over 180 publications with the EAT-102. These include:

  • Translation and validation studies of the EAT-10 tool 3-5
  • Use of the EAT-10 across care settings in varied applications including:
  • Predicting aspiration risk 6
  • Documenting response to dysphagia treatment 7
  • Understanding dysphagia prevalence in different populations 8,9


1. Belafsky PC et al. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol, 2008; ll7(l2):9l9-924.

2. Pub.Med.gov (accessed August 2021).

3. Moller R et al. Acta Otolaryngol. 2016;136(7): 749-53.

4. Demir N et al. Dysphagia, 2016; 31(5): 644-9.

5. Lechien J et al. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2019; 276(6):1727-1736.

6. Cheney DM et al. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol, 2015; 124(5): 351-4.

7. Sinn FS et al. Int J Speech Lang Pathol, 2020; 22(1): 78-85.

8. Igarashi K et al. PLoS One, 2019; 14(1): e0211040.

9. Yew AY et al. Spine, 2019; 44(2): E82-E88.

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the EAT-10

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