Características da deglutição de indivíduos em processo de envelhecimento

Abstract

From the mouth to thestomach the swallowing is responsible for transporting food. With the aging process, anatomical modifications tend to transform the swallowing mechanism. The videofluoroscopy of swallowing (VFS), considered as a "gold standard" evaluation of swallowing, it is a dynamic exam, that allows to identify and classify the degree of dysphagia and assess the risk of laryngotracheal penetration/aspiration as well. Objective: To evaluate the characteristics of deglutition in adults and elderly individuals. Method: The present study is retro -prospective, observational, transversal and analytical,it was performed in a hospital in the north of Rio Grande do Sul. We evaluated 183 individuals, through VFS examination, dividing them into two groups for data analysis: adults (individuals with ages ≥ 40 years and < 59 years) and elderly (individuals with ages ≥ 60 years). The evaluation consisted of the analysis of the reports where swallowing was assessed through the offer of three consistencies (doughy, liquid and solids) contrasted with barium sulfate gel. The analysis of the quantitative variables will be presented by mean and standard deviation and the categorical by absolute and relative frequencies. The association among the variables was through the chi-square test and Pearson's correlation and the significance level for the statistical analysis was set at 5% (p≤0,05). The software SPSS version 20.0 was used for all statistical analysis. Results: Most of the individuals were male, presenting as the main complaint the dysphagia, the baseline pathology was stroke (CVA), they were referred by speech-language pathologists and were mainly fed orally. The discreet dysphagia and discreet moderate were more frequent in view of the degree of severity. The elderly had the highest levels of dysphagia and a presence of laryngotracheal penetration and aspiration occurred in the two groups studied. Conclusion: The findings of the present study demonstrated that the elderly presented greater changes in the characteristics of swallowing in the three phases and higher levels regarding the degree of severity of dysphagia when compared to adults. When this was correlated with baseline morbidities, it was observed that pneumonia influenced the occurrence of dysphagia.