Abstract
Purpose This study describes swallow-related quality of life (SWAL-QOL) in patients with myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) and investigates its association with swallowing function and disease severity. Methods A SWAL-QOL questionnaire was completed by 75 DM1 patients and 25 healthy control subjects. The severity of the disease was evaluated using the muscular impairment rating scale (MIRS). Twenty-eight DM1 patients underwent a videofluroscopic swallowing examination (VFS). Spearman's correlation coefficient was used to measure the direction and strength of associations. Results The SWAL-QOL median scores were significantly lower for the DM1 group than for the healthy control group. The scores for the majority of the SWAL-QOL domains were lower in patients with proximal muscular weakness (MIRS 4 and 5). Postswallow vallecular pooling and piecemeal deglutition were the most impaired VFS outcome variables. Conclusion Our results suggest that a multidimensional swallowing assessment is recommended for DM1 patients as SWAL-QOL and VFS measure different aspects of the swallowing function, thus providing complementary information.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 2357-2362 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | European Archives of Oto-Rhino-Laryngology |
Volume | 277 |
Issue number | 8 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2020 |
Keywords
- Deglutition disorders
- Dysphagia
- Myotonic dystrophy
- Quality of life
- Videofluoroscopy
- DUTCH VERSION
- TYPE-1
- VALIDATION
- ADULTS
- QOL