Autoavaliação da deglutição em idosos hospitalizados

Abstract

Objective: To investigate how hospitalized elderly people self-assess deglutition. Method: Exploratory, descriptive, observational and transversal study. A total of 122 hospitalized elderly people, aged between 60 and 89 years old, participated in the study, 64 (52.5%) women and 58 (47.5%) men. A screening protocol composed of symptoms suggestive of oropharyngeal dysphagia was used, as well as a specific question about self-assessment of swallowing. Pearson's chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used to verify the association between categorical variables. The Student's t-test was used to analyze the difference of means. The significance level was 5%. Results: The majority of the elderly described swallowing positively, however, most of them reported at least one symptom of this function. Among those who rated swallowing negatively, the mean number of symptoms was significantly higher than those who self-rated swallowing positively. There was a statistically significant association between self-evaluation of swallowing and nine of the eleven symptoms suggestive of oropharyngeal dysphagia investigated. In the associations found, it was observed that the negative rating of swallowing was proportionally more frequent among those in which the symptom was present. Conclusion: Most hospitalized elderly positively assessed swallowing. However, the number of symptoms suggestive of oropharyngeal dysphagia is greater among those Who negatively self-assess deglutition, and negative self-assessment is more frequent among those who report symptoms.