What is it about?
Swallowing disorders (dysphagia) are common in older adults who require care. This study tested over 800 adults aged 65 and over who live in nursing homes or live in the community and receive aged care services. A number of factors were found to be indicative of disordered swallowing, which can be utilised clinically to identify dysphagia in this population.
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Why is it important?
Dysphagia is a distressing disorder to experience, and can be costly to manage as it can lead to secondary complications of malnutrition, dehydration, and aspiration pneumonia. Knowing what variables are indicative of dysphagia can aid timely identification and intervention.
Perspectives
Dysphagia is a condition that does not receive the attention it deserves from the public. Many are not aware of this disorder or are ignorant of its signs. Yet it drastically affect quality of life by affecting the action of swallowing that we taken for granted until it malfunctions. This paper hopes to elucidate this problem by linking dysphagia with easily identifiable variables that are used in general health and aged care, thereby making the condition more visible to necessary therapy.
Dr. Dai Pu
Monash University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Indicators of Dysphagia in Aged Care Facilities, Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, September 2017, American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA),
DOI: 10.1044/2017_jslhr-s-17-0028.
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