Dysphagia in old-old women: prevalence as determined according to self-report and the 3-ounce water swallowing test

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether symptoms and clinical signs of swallowing dysfunction could be easily identified in community-dwelling elderly adults and to examine the association between self-report and direct observation of symptoms and signs of swallowing dysfunction.

Design: Physiological substudy conducted as a home visit within an observational cohort study.

Setting: Baltimore City and County, Maryland.

Participants: Community-dwelling elderly women without history of dysphagia or neurological disease aged 85 to 94 enrolled in the Women's Health and Aging Study II (N = 47).

Measurements: Three trials of the 3-ounce water swallowing test, swallowing function questionnaire, and frailty status.

Results: Thirty-four (72%) subjects demonstrated swallowing dysfunction in at least one swallowing trial and 16 (34%) in all three trials. The most common signs of dysfunction were throat clear and wet voice. Conversely, participants reported few symptoms of dysphagia on a swallowing function questionnaire. The most common symptom, reported by approximately 15% of participants, was the sensation of the food going "down the wrong way," 8.5% or fewer participants reported other symptoms.

Conclusion: Signs of swallowing dysfunction were present in a large majority of community-dwelling old-old women, but they were largely unrecognized and reported. Formal evaluation of swallowing function in community-dwelling elderly adults is necessary to determine the clinical consequences of these findings.

Keywords: dysphagia; screening; self-report; swallowing; water test.