Self-perception of swallowing, vocal symptoms, and the possibility of dysphagia occurrence in patients under palliative care.
Sophia Eustáquio Rodrigues, Gabriel Trevizani, Michelle Guimarães and 1 others
In 50 palliative care patients, 80% reported negative swallowing perception, 58% had vocal symptoms above cutoff, and 62% screened positive for dysphagia risk.
Sarcopenia and dyspnea were associated with worse scores across all three measures.
Key findings
180% of patients reported negative swallowing perception, 58% scored above the vocal symptom cutoff, and 62% screened positive for dysphagia risk.
2Patients with sarcopenia scored significantly higher than those without on swallowing perception (p = 0.005), vocal limitation (p = 0.041), total vocal score (p = 0.044), and dysphagia risk (p = 0.007). Patients with self-reported dyspnea scored higher across all instruments except the vocal emotional domain (p = 0.233).
3Swallowing self-perception, vocal symptoms, and dysphagia risk showed strong to moderate positive correlations with each other, with the strongest being EAT-10 to RaDI-H (r = 0.664) and RaDI-H to total VoiSS (r = 0.689).
Still to come
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Single hospital that is not a palliative care referral center, so the sample may not represent the broader PC population. Fifty patients is a small sample, and the convenience sampling means it is not a random cross-section of PC patients. Cross-sectional design: the correlations show that the three symptoms travel together, not that one causes the other. Low patient turnover and the presence of patients in active dying or with delirium meant some could not complete the full protocol. These are self-report screening instruments, not a clinical or instrumental assessment of swallowing or voice.
Declared interests
No funding or conflicts of interest declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the 80% negative swallowing perception or the 62% positive dysphagia screen as confirmation that these patients have dysphagia. These are self-report screening scores that trigger a referral for formal SLP assessment, not a diagnosis. The study is a single-center cross-sectional survey of 50 patients, so the prevalence figures may not hold in your setting.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →