@article{article_1681206, title={Investigating Swallowing Performance and Swallowing Related Quality of Life Across Alzheimer’s Stages}, journal={The Turkish Journal of Ear Nose and Throat}, volume={35}, pages={111–121}, year={2025}, DOI={10.26650/Tr-ENT.2025.1681206}, author={Manay, Burak and Bengisu, Serkan}, keywords={Alzheimer’s disease, dysphagia, swallowing, quality of life, dementia}, abstract={Objective: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder frequently accompanied by dysphagia, leading to malnutrition, dehydration, and aspiration pneumonia. While AD’s general impact on the quality of life is well-documented, the specific influence of swallowing disorders on the quality of life remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between swallowing function and swallowing-related quality of life across different stages of AD. Material and Methods: A total of 45 individuals aged 65 years diagnosed with AD were enrolled and clas sified into three groups-mild, moderate, and severe-based on Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores, with 15 patients in each group. Swallowing function was assessed using the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), the Timed Water Swallowing Test (TWST), and the Repeated Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST). Nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), and swallowing-related quality of life was measured using the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire (SWAL-QOL). Results: Higher CDR scores were positively correlated with EAT-10 scores, indicating greater perceived swallowing difficulties, and negatively correlated with SWAL-QOL, TWST, RSST, and MNA-SF scores (p<0.001). As AD severity increased, patients demonstrated reduced swallowing performance, poorer nutritional status, and lower quality of life. Statistically significant differences were observed in all measured outcomes across disease stages (p = 0.000), with the severe group showing the most deterioration. Conclusion: This study highlights a strong link between AD progression and impairments in swallowing function, nutrition, and related quality of life, emphasising the need for early dysphagia screening and timely nutritional interventions in clinical care.}, number={3}, publisher={Istanbul University}