Self-Reported Dysphagia and Its Correlates Within a Prevalent Population of People with Parkinson’s Disease

Abstract

Many people with Parkinson's disease (PD) experience dysphagia; however, the prevalence of dysphagia in people with PD is unknown. We studied a prevalent population of PD cases. All of those who consented to participate were assessed for anxiety, depression, cognitive function, and quality of life using standard rating scales. Anyone who answered "yes" to either one of the two questions: Do you have difficulty swallowing food/liquid or tablets? and Do you cough after eating/drinking? was considered to have dysphagia. Question 7 of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) was also used to identify dysphagia. Of 106 prevalent PD cases, 75 (38 males) patients consented to examination and assessment. The prevalence of dysphagia was 32.0% (n=24; 11 males). Using the response to UPDRS Question 7 as an indicator of the impact of swallowing problems on the patient, there were significant correlations with cognitive function, anxiety, depression, quality of life, and UPDRS-reported gait disturbance, postural instability and problems with falling. There was no correlation with disease duration, age, or gender. Almost one third of the participants reported dysphagia. There was a strong correlation between dysphagia and gross motor skills; patients reporting such problems should be screened for swallowing problems.

Dysphagia and Sialorrhea:

“…Nevertheless, as mentioned in the literature, several other causes of dysphagia may occur in association with PD (27) . In Parkinson's disease, the prevalence of dysphagia is estimated to be from 32% to 70% (28) . Nevertheless, the risk posed by dysphagia is neglected or underestimated until the patient suffers the first episode of pneumonia (17,20) , despite the known high risk of aspiration and pneumonia associated with oropharyngeal dysphagia in PD patients (10,26) .…”

Development of the Brief Bedside Dysphagia Screening Test – Revised: a Cross-Sectional Czech Study

“…However, the reported prevalence rates vary, mainly due to the exact definition of dysphagia (4) and the used diagnostic instrument (5). It is estimated to occur in up to 52.7% of the elderly (2), 44-53.6% of patients with stroke (6, 7), up to 32% of patients with Parkinson's disease (8), and 48.4% of patients with head and neck cancer (9).…”

Relação entre disfagia e tipos clínicos na doença de Parkinson

“…Pneumonia caused by aspiration is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality of individuals with Parkinson's disease, indicating that aspiration during feeding should represent an important concern 14 . From a clinical perspective, it is necessary to identify the people with PD that may have dysphagia, since these patients could be at risk of aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition and psychosocial morbidity 17 .…”