Effect of type‑II diabetes mellitus on swallowing difficulty, swallowing anxiety, laryngeal function, and water...

Type-II Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is the most common metabolic disorder in people who are over 65 years of age. It can lead to incoordination and weakness of the swallowing muscles, causing difficulty with swallowing.

To assess swallowing difficulty, swallowing anxiety, laryngeal function, and water swallowing performance in TII-DM patients.

Prospective case-control study.

A total of 166 elderly individuals (106 females and 78 Type-II DM) were included in the present study. Self-reported swallowing difficulty, self-reported swallowing anxiety, handgrip strength, maximum phonation time, and water swallowing performance were evaluated.

There was a difference between the groups in terms of body mass index (BMI), self-reported swallowing difficulty, self-reported swallowing anxiety, handgrip strength, and maximum phonation time (p < 0.001; p < 0.001; p < 0.001; p:0.002; p:0.023, respectively) BMI, self-reported Swallowing Difficulty scores, and self-reported Swallowing Anxiety scores of elderly individuals with Type II DM were higher than those in the control group. In contrast, grip strength and maximum phonation time values were lower. There was no difference between the groups in terms of age, number of swallows, Swallowing Time, Swallow Volume, Swallow Speed, and Swallow Capacity values (p:0.727; p:0.141; p:0.933; p:0.141; p:0.277; p:0.933, respectively).

Swallowing function, laryngeal function, and grip strength were found to be negatively affected in elderly individuals with TII DM compared to those without the condition. On the contrary, it was found that it did not affect water swallowing performance. Swallowing anxiety can be considered an important criterion that should be evaluated in elderly people with Type-II DM. Studies investigating solid food swallowing performance in individuals with Type-II DM, where swallowing muscle strength is more clearly required, are needed.