Affiliation:
1. Division of Rehabilitation for Speech and Swallowing Disorders The Nippon Dental University Koganei Tokyo Japan
2. The Nippon Dental University, Tama Oral Rehabilitation Clinic Koganei‐city Tokyo Japan
Abstract
AbstractAimsWe aimed to assess the difficulty in taking solid oral dosage forms (SODFs) among older people with dysphagia and clarify the relationship between difficulty in swallowing SODFs and swallowing function.Methods and resultsOutpatients from a dysphagia clinic aged ≥65 years were asked yes‐or‐no questions about the applicability of eight items regarding difficulty in taking SODFs. Additionally, a videofluorographic swallowing study (VFSS) was performed to assess their swallowing function. The Kruskal–Wallis test and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient were used to analyze the relationship between difficulty in taking SODFs and swallowing function.ResultsAmong the 93 participants, the average number of SODFs consumed was 5.8 ± 3.1. In the questionnaire, the average number of “yes” answers was 2.2 ± 2.2, and 65 patients (71.0%) answered “yes” to at least one question. Additionally, no significant relationship was observed between the perceived difficulty in swallowing SODFs and VFSS findings.ConclusionApproximately 70% of participants reported subjective difficulty in taking SODFs, showing that patients uniformly reported perceived difficulty in taking SODFs regardless of actual swallowing function. The results of this study suggest that patients must be questioned thoroughly about their SODFs use, regardless of the objective severity of their dysphagia.