Relating Physiologic Swallowing Impairment, Functional Swallowing Ability, and Swallow-Specific Quality of Life.
R Jordan Hazelwood, Kent E Armeson, Elizabeth G Hill and 2 others
PMID 36229718WHAT IT FOUND
Questionnaire scores and diet status showed only weak links to measured swallowing physiology.
In this outpatient cohort, patient-reported swallowing difficulty did not reliably stand in for a videofluoroscopic swallow assessment.
Key findings
01MBSImP oral and pharyngeal total scores were only weakly related to FOIS diet-status scores.
02EAT-10 and DHI total scores were strongly related to each other, while their relationships with MBSImP total scores were weak or absent.
03Tongue base retraction impairment was related to several patient-reported swallowing and quality-of-life items.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Generalisability is limited because the sample was a retrospective convenience sample of outpatient Veterans, mostly white males. The cohort had quite mild physiologic swallowing impairment, with median FOIS 7 and more than 75% scoring 6 or 7. Only complete questionnaires were analysed, so quality-of-life findings rest on 241 EAT-10 scores and 220 DHI scores. Some MBSImP component scores were missing for individual participants because of omitted data, safety concerns, unexpected expectoration, lateral-only views, no esophageal follow-through, or technical issues. Factors other than swallowing physiology, such as mental health or xerostomia from polypharmacy, may have influenced EAT-10 and DHI scores. Specific participant factors that may affect swallowing physiology, function, and quality of life remain unexplored.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that a patient's EAT-10 or DHI score shows whether their oral or pharyngeal swallowing physiology is impaired. The study found only weak links between questionnaire scores and MBSImP scores, and some total-score associations were not significant.