The prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia among nursing home residents in Isfahan

Swallowing is critical for nutrition and health while affected swallowing is the source of pain, nutritional insufficiency and loss of health. Swallowing disorders especially in elderly may lead to malnutrition or a disabling condition and may cause the inability of individual to self care from himself. So, the aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia among elderly residents, who were in Isfahan nursing home centers. In this descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study, 165 elderly persons randomly selected and screened with dysphagia screening test. Screening form was consist of some questions regarding the review of their medical history, history of feeding, swallowing and the place of dysphagia as well as three trial swallows with three different consistencies including liquid, semiliquid and solid. Then, the acquired data were analyzed with two tests of Chi-square and Cochran's Q. The prevalence of dysphagia among elderly individuals was 41.2. Furthermore, the analysis of the relationship between dysphagia and three bolus consistencies revealed that the maximum dysphagia was occurred in liquids and this difference was significant. Moreover, the prevalence of dysphagia was greater in females than males (49 % VS 31%) and this difference was also significant. In addition, the analysis of the relationship between the rates of dysphagia and age groups indicated that the percent of dysphagia rise with increasing in age and this difference was significant.Concluison: The prevalence of dysphagia was significant among residential elderly populations in the Isfahan nursing home centers. They are at risk of malnutrition and pneumonia. Therefore, they need speech therapy services for their dysphagia problems.