Screening for dysphagia in dysphonic patients with non-neoplastic vocal fold lesions by Arabic EAT-10: cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background Dysphagia is described as any disruption in the normal swallowing starting from the preparatory transport of a bolus from the oral cavity through both pharynx and esophagus down to the stomach. The purpose of this study is to detect the different symptoms of Dysphagia in dysphonic patients with non-neoplastic vocal fold lesions to consider the potential benefit of swallowing therapy hand in hand with the voice intervention strategies. Methods The Arabic Eating Assessment Tool-10 (A-EAT-10) was applied on 50 patients with age ranging from 15 to 50 years diagnosed as being dysphonic secondary to non-neoplastic vocal fold lesions on objective and clinical measures. Patients with a score above three will be considered to have dysphagia. Results Application of Arabic EAT-10 on dysphonic patients with minimal associated pathological lesions revealed swallowing difficulties that are not due to their vocal pathological condition. In the current study, 12 patients from the studied sample (24% of the patients) complained of phonasthenic symptoms and these symptoms may be misinterpreted by the patients as dysphagia. Symptoms of comorbid phonasthenia may be misinterpreted by the patients as dysphagia. Conclusions Although non-neoplastic vocal fold lesions are not the etiological factor for dysphagia, these group of patients still complains on subjective screening tools like A-EAT-10. The dysphagic symptoms in this group of patients may be related to the comorbid phonasthenia, and treatment of phonasthenia by voice therapy could alleviate these symptoms.