Prevalence of swallowing difficulties in older people without neurological disorders: Swallowing profile of older people in the city of Santos, Brazil

Abstract

Several studies report that 40% to 60% of older people have some difficulty chewing and/or swallowing, which can lead to malnutrition, dehydration, weight loss, a lack of eating desire, etc. Identify older adults with swallowing difficulties in the city of Santos, Brazil, among users of the public healthcare system. A cross‐sectional study was conducted with 100 individuals aged 60 to 90 years with no neurological disorders. Patient histories were taken, and stomatognathic evaluations were performed. The Mini Mental Health Examination (MMHE) and swallowing‐related quality‐of‐life questionnaire (SWAL‐QOL) were administered. The clinical swallowing assessment was performed with liquid, pasty and solid foods using two assessment protocols (Dysphagia Risk Evaluation Protocol and the Protocol for the Introduction and Transition of Foods)’. We found complaints of poorly adapted dentures among 49.3% of denture wearers and a high prevalence of hypofunction of oro‐facial muscles. Sixty‐five per cent of the respondents had facial muscle hypofunction, 51% exhibited lip hypofunction, and 49% exhibited tongue hypofunction. Moreover, 54% reported difficulty swallowing. On the SWAL‐QOL questionnaire, 37% reported choking when eating food, 44% reported choking when drinking liquids, 29% reported coughing during meals, and 77% reported difficulty chewing. The present study revealed an important prevalence of complaints related to swallowing difficulties among older people in the city of Santos with structural and physiological changes characteristic of presbyphagia. The most prevalent conditions were poorly adapted dentures and hypofunction of oro‐facial muscles, underscoring the importance of stomatognathic interventions in primary care.

Incidencia y factores de riesgo de disfagia post extubación en pacientes críticos no neurológicos

“…En segundo lugar, la edad de los pacientes del presente estudio fue significativamente más alta que la de algunos estudios previos (Kwok et al, 2013;Oliveira et al, 2018). Este punto podría ser importante de considerar debido a que existen dificultades en al deglución asociadas a la edad que son altamente prevalentes (Diaz & Lombardi, 2021) y que podrían haber estado subdiagnosticadas pero presentes antes de la intubación. En tercer lugar, se debe considerar que las diferencias de diseño entre estudios también puede influir en las estimaciones reportadas.…”

Positive relief of stroke patients with dysphagia under cluster nursing strategy

“…Stroke, as a major global cause of death and disability, has always been a key research object in the fields of public health and clinical medicine. [1,2] According to statistics, nearly 15 million people worldwide experience stroke every year, of which about one-third die and another one-third cause long-term disability. Dysphagia belongs to the most common complications after stroke, and according to different studies, approximately 30% to 80% of stroke patients experience dysphagia in the early stages of onset.…”

The behavior of lemon-based thickened fluids submitted to the IDDSI flow test as a strategy for dysphagia treatment

“…A recent study showed that there was a higher prevalence of perception of dysphagia in females (9.4%) and elderly individuals aged 80 years or older (12.6%) in a municipality in southern Rio Grande do Sul (Mello et al, 2021). In the study by Dias and Lombardi (2021), 100 older adults aged 60 to 90 years were evaluated in the city of Santos (Brazil), where 54% of this sample had some difficulty in swallowing, regardless of severity or frequency. According to Bassi et al (2014), the incidence of dysphagia in patients after a stroke is 43 to 50%, even with speech therapy in the first 48 h. Furthermore, as described by Burgos et al (2017), stroke patients are more likely to develop dehydration and malnutrition and have a higher risk of aspiration pneumonia and mortality.…”