The frequency of dysphagia and its impact on adults with multiple sclerosis based on patient-reported questionnaires

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) refers to a chronic inflammation of the central nervous system including the brain and spinal cord. Dysphagia is one of the symptoms that represent challenges in clinical practice for the management of MS patients. Dysphagia can result in serious complications leading to morbidity and death in late stages of MS. However, little attention is given to dysphagia, its symptoms and how it affects the quality of life of adults with MS.

The purpose of this study is to identify the frequency of dysphagia in adults with MS and determine the main symptoms suggestive of dysphagia and its impact on the patients' quality of life.

In total, 103 adults with MS agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected at the Multiple Sclerosis outpatient Clinic of a major metropolitan Australian hospital using patient reported questionnaires.

38% of adults with MS reported having swallowing problems that resulted in various physical and social consequences including but not limited to coughing, throat clearing, choking on food and liquid, reduced eating desire, increased eating duration and mealtime anxiety.

Adults with MS-related dysphagia had reduced scores across all domains of swallowing-related quality of life. These findings support referral to speech-language pathologists for management of dysphagia from the early stages of the disease. Further work is required to determine whether early intervention for dysphagia can sustain or improve swallowing function as well as swallowing-related quality of life domains further into the disease course.