Investigating Swallowing Performance and Swallowing Related Quality of Life Across Alzheimer’s Stages

Year 2025, Volume: 35 Issue: 3, 111 - 121, 25.09.2025

Burak Manay , Serkan Bengisu

https://doi.org/10.26650/Tr-ENT.2025.1681206

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.

Keywords

Alzheimer’s disease , dysphagia , swallowing , quality of life , dementia

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