Sensorimotor deficits affecting voice and swallowing ability can have a devastating impact on the quality of life of people with Parkinson disease (PD).
Hemiglossectomy preserves some speech and swallowing ability.
Table 1 summarizes different categories of diseases and health conditions that negatively impact functional swallowing ability.
Although swallowing ability may be perceived to improve with age, some studies have reported swallowing difficulties in adolescence.
96 Improvements from this exercise include increased anterior laryngeal excursion and upper esophageal sphincter opening during swallowing, both of which contribute to more functional swallowing ability.
20 These limitations and changes in oral intake result from patient perception and self-perception of swallowing ability that is impaired.
It incorporates seven multiple-item scales that assess the symptoms of pain, swallowing ability, senses (taste/smell), speech, social eating, social contact, and sexuality.
The presence of a strong relationship between swallowing ability, nutritional status, and health outcomes in the elderly suggests a role for dysphagia management in this population.
For example, alterations in capacity with cooking and shopping, food preferences, swallowing ability, and eating conduct [e.g., wandering from the table, difficulty using utensils] have been documented and associated with weight loss and malnutrition [ 8].
This general pattern of improvement in the swallowing ability during the length of hospital stay is similar to the pattern of positive outcomes that have been previously reported in the specialized literature [ 17, 18, 25].
