Screening of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Patients with Diabetes Mellitus in El-Demerdash Hospital

Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus is a systemic endocrinal disease that results either from deficiency of insulin hormone (type 1) or from insulin resistance or both (type 2). Literature is scarce related to dysphagia with diabetes. This complaint is expressed by some patients and needs to be explored. A-EAT-10 is a questionnaire that explores the presence of dysphagia symptoms among patients. Aim: The aim of this work is to screen Egyptian diabetic patients (type 1 and type 2) in El-Demerdash Hospital for oropharyngeal dysphagia using the validated Arabic version of Eating Assessment Tool (A-EAT-10) questionnaire to explore the degree of such symptom among them. Study Design: This was a cross-sectional study conducted to screen the diabetic patients (of both type 1 and type 2) in El-Demerdash Hospital for oropharyngeal dysphagia. Patients and Methods: 200 Egyptian adult diabetic patients, aged 18y.1m.1d-59y.12m.31d, were included in this study. The participants were selected upon certain inclusion and exclusion criteria. The inclusion criteria were diabetic patients of type 1 and/or type 2. The exclusion criteria were any past or present history of disorders that might cause oropharyngeal dysphagia. Patients were asked to complete the Arabic version of the Eating Assessment Tool-10 (A-EAT-10) questionnaire. It is formed of 10 questions, and used to detect the presence of dysphagia complaints among patients and how it affects them. Results: The increase in age and having a female gender were considered of high risk for dysphagia among diabetic patients participating in this study. The commonest symptom among diabetic patients who complained from dysphagia was "I cough when I eat". There is no relation between the type or duration of diabetes mellitus and the presence of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Conclusion: The present study showed that diabetic patients may encounter swallowing problems. The A-EAT 10 is an easy method that can be used for screening of swallowing difficulty.