Department of Neurosciences, Reproductive Sciences and Odontostomatology, University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy.
Department of Psychology, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, Caserta, Italy.
Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2024 Nov;11(11):2958-2966. doi: 10.1002/acn3.52206. Epub 2024 Sep 30.
People with multiple sclerosis (MS) might experience symptoms that are usually underestimated. Dysphagia should be evaluated within the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), but clinicians often do not assess it properly. The objectives of this study are as follows: To assess the prevalence of dysphagia in patients with MS utilizing the Swallowing Disturbance Questionnaire (SDQ); to examine the correlation with the EDSS; to investigate the relationship between dysphagia and clinico-demographic characteristics of MS.
In total, 177 MS patients underwent evaluations with EDSS, SDQ, cognitive functions, anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep quality tests. We compared clinico-demographic data of patients with and without dysphagia and native-EDSS to SDQ-EDSS.
Out of the 177 MS patients, 56% of individuals were identified having dysphagia according to the SDQ with 41 patients exhibiting mild dysphagia, 31 showing moderate dysphagia and 27 patients having severe dysphagia. Only 6 patients had dysphagia recorded in the EDSS. SDQ-EDSS scores were significantly higher than native scores. Dysphagia was associated with depressive symptoms and sleep quality.
Dysphagia affects up to 56% of MS patients. The SDQ questionnaire is useful for identifying dysphagia, which can help in capturing disease progression and preventing complications like aspiration pneumonia. The SDQ-EDSS was higher than the native-EDSS, reflecting the poor ability of the native-EDSS to evaluate certain symptoms such as dysphagia. The SDQ correlated with depressive symptoms, which are associated with a greater perception of MS symptoms, and poor sleep quality, which could be associated with the triggering of pathogenic mechanisms responsible for disease progression.
多发性硬化症（MS）患者可能会出现通常被低估的症状。吞咽困难应在扩展残疾状况量表（EDSS）中进行评估，但临床医生通常未能正确评估。本研究的目的如下：利用吞咽障碍问卷（SDQ）评估 MS 患者吞咽困难的患病率；检查与 EDSS 的相关性；研究吞咽困难与 MS 的临床人口统计学特征之间的关系。
共有 177 名 MS 患者接受 EDSS、SDQ、认知功能、焦虑、抑郁、疲劳和睡眠质量测试评估。我们比较了有和无吞咽困难以及母语 EDSS 的患者的临床人口统计学数据与 SDQ-EDSS。
在 177 名 MS 患者中，根据 SDQ，56%的患者被确定存在吞咽困难，其中 41 名患者存在轻度吞咽困难，31 名患者存在中度吞咽困难，27 名患者存在重度吞咽困难。只有 6 名患者在 EDSS 中记录了吞咽困难。SDQ-EDSS 评分明显高于母语评分。吞咽困难与抑郁症状和睡眠质量有关。
吞咽困难影响多达 56%的 MS 患者。SDQ 问卷有助于识别吞咽困难，这有助于捕捉疾病进展并预防吸入性肺炎等并发症。SDQ-EDSS 高于母语 EDSS，反映了母语 EDSS 评估某些症状（如吞咽困难）的能力较差。SDQ 与抑郁症状相关，抑郁症状与对 MS 症状的更大感知有关，与睡眠质量差有关，这可能与负责疾病进展的发病机制的触发有关。
