Influence of dental factors on oropharyngeal dysphagia among recipients of long-term care

Objective: The study evaluated the association of the sociodemographic, behavioural variables and the oral conditions with the presence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in long-term care older persons. Background: Due to the influence of ageing, swallowing may be altered both in people with natural teeth and in those who have dentures or tooth loss. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study evaluated 115 individuals older than 60 years, living in long-term care institutions of the State of Rio Grande do Sul in 2016. The diagnosis of dysphagia happen using a clinical speech evaluation, based on the research of signals and symptoms of alterations during deglutition, and on an oral sensory-motor evaluation. The dental clinical evaluation examined the oral cavity, teeth and dental prostheses, including a Xerostomia assessment. Poisson Regressions with robust variance was calculated were used to estimate crude and adjusted Prevalence Ratios(PR) and their IC95%. Results: The sample was mostly comprised of older women (67.0%), with more than 81 years of age (44.3%) and edentulous (54.3%). Diagnosis of oropharyngeal dysphagia was verified in 60.9% of the participants. In the final model, older persons who presented no pair (PR=1.52(CI95%=1.02-2.40)) had a highest prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia, when compared to older persons who presented 8 to 14 mixed pairs, as well as those older persons who had more complaints related to symptoms of Xerostomia (PR=2.86(CI95% 1.58-5.18)). Conclusion: Institutionalised older persons with a poor oral health condition are associated with a higher prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia, as well as with the presence of Xerostomia.