The evaluation of the effects of dysphagia on quality of life for patients with mechanical based swallowing pathologies

THE EVALUATION OF LIFE QUALITY OF PATIENTS WITH SWALLOWING PROBLEMS DUE TO THE MECHANICAL BASE SWALLOWING PATHALOGIES Veli ŞAHNALI Department of Speech and Language Therapy Anadolu University, Graduate School of Health Sciences, December, 2017 Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Müzeyyen ÇİYİLTEPE The purpose of this study is to determine the quality of life of patients with swallowing problems due to Mechanical Based Swallowing Pathologies (MBSP). One of the quality of life scales which focuses mainly for swallowing abilities is that Turkish The Swallowing Quality of Life Survey (T-SWAL-QOL) was used in the study. Data that was obtained from the T-SWAL-QOL survey were assessed with other checklists including Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) and Dysphagia Handicap Index (DHI). Patients were chosen from the Ear Nose and Throat Clinics of outpatient university hospital whom applied for swallowing problems or has surgery which might result in dysphagia due to physiological/mechanical changes that might cause dysphagia. Patients who were undergone total laryngectomy were not included in the study. Of 87 patients who completed the survey 43 were adequate to be in the study; only those with mechanical based swallowing problems due to partial laryngectomy, nasopharynx ca and glossectomy were considered adequate. The statistical results indicated that there was a moderate correlation between T-SWAL-QOL and EAT-10 scores (r = -,512, p <,01) and a moderate negative correlation between T-SWAL-QOL and DHI scores (r = -,592, p <,001). It has been shown that MBSP significantly affect patients' quality of life. While all areas of the SWAL-QOL scale were adversely affected, it was found that the most affected areas were social functioning, food selection and eating duration. Keywords: Dysphagia, Mechanical based pathology, Quality of life, T-SWAL-QOL, DHI