Feeding and Swallowing Disorder in Adults With Intellectual Disabilities: Associated Factors.
Richella Kloppers, Dederieke A M Festen, Sandra Mergler
PMID 40671611WHAT IT FOUND
In one residential intellectual disability service, 54% were classified with feeding and swallowing disorder.
Increasing mealtime support needs, coughing, cramming food, and severe-profound intellectual disability were associated with FSD.
Key findings
0154% of participants were classified as having feeding and swallowing disorder.
02Increasing mealtime support needs, coughing, cramming food, and profound-severe intellectual disability were positively associated with FSD in the regression model.
03Antipsychotic medication use was negatively associated with FSD in the regression model.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Most data came from medical files, so missing or incomplete records could affect the results. FSD was defined broadly using caregiver risk assessments, choking records, aspiration pneumonia, or Dysphagia Management Staging Scale diagnosis; only 25% of participants had a confirmed Dysphagia Management Staging Scale diagnosis. The added caregiver risk assessment and choking record measures were not shown to be valid or reliable in this study. The sample came from one residential care organisation and was small, so the findings may not apply to other adults with intellectual disabilities. Consent may have been more likely from people already known to have feeding and swallowing problems. The analysis used baseline cross-sectional data, so it can show associations but not cause, and it is not a validated prediction model. The report gives 102 baseline participants and 101 in the regression table, so the analysed number is not fully consistent.
Declared interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not treat 54% as a confirmed swallowing disorder rate for all adults with intellectual disabilities. The study used a broad definition from caregiver risk assessments and records, and only 25% had a confirmed swallowing diagnosis.