<b><i>Background:</i></b> Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and swallowing difficulties may occur as the disease progresses. Dysphagia has many consequences, such as aspiration and pneumonia. In particular, in the advanced stage, approximately 70% of the causes of death in AD involve aspiration pneumonia. Therefore, it is vital to assess the presence or absence of dysphagia in AD. <b><i>Objective:</i></b> This study aims to describe swallowing difficulty across the stages of AD. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> Thirty-five AD patients were evaluated. The Mini-Mental State Examination was conducted. A bedside water swallow test (BWST) and the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) were administered. Finally, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing was used to evaluate residual, aspiration and penetration conditions. <b><i>Results:</i></b> EAT-10 scores, BWST results, and penetration-aspiration status were statistically significantly different according to AD stage (<i>p</i> &#x3c; 0.05). Among all patients, 74.3% had residue, 25.7% had penetration, and 2.9% had aspiration. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> This study has demonstrated that swallowing dysfunction begins at a mild stage and progressively worsens toward the advanced stage in patients with AD. At all stages of AD, residue was observed, and this poses a risk for the development of penetration-aspiration. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the early dysphagia of individuals.

To cite this article: Bizpınar O, Parlak MM, Köse A. Analysis of the consistency of information received from Alzheimer's disease patients and their families in the quality of life and depression scales.

Objectives:The psychosocial factors that may affect the prognosis of patients with low back pain are generally disregarded. The StarT Back Screening Tool can help clinicians to analyze prognostic indicators and the risk associated with outcome by examining physical and psychosocial factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Turkish version of the StarT Back Screening Tool, including cross-cultural adaptation, internal consistency, test-retest reliability, and construct validity. Methods: In this study, 120 patients with non-specific low back pain were included. The Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, Oswestry Disability Index, Beck Depression Inventory, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and the StarT Back Screening Tool were administered. One week after the initial testing, the same examiner repeated the tests. Results: The mean age of the patients who participated in the study was 35.54±12.45 years. Cronbach's alpha coefficients in the analysis of scale reliability were 0.747 for the overall scale and 0.738 for the psychosocial subscale. The test-retest reliability of StarT Back Screening Tool (intraclass correlation coefficient: 0.90-0.93) was found to be excellent. Pearson correlation coefficients for the correlations between the overall StarT Back Screening Tool and the other measures were very good (r=0.678; p<0.001) for the Roland Morris Disability Questionnaire, good (r=0.473; p<0.001) for the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, good (r=0.541; p<0.001) for the Oswestry Disability Index, and moderate (r=0.336; p<0.001) for the Beck Depression Inventory. Conclusion: The Turkish version of the StarT Screening Tool for non-specific back pain was determined to be valid and reliable. A good assessment of both physical and psychosocial factors in symptomatic patients can help clinicians make a thorough prognosis.

Background & Objective: The aim of this study is to determine the deteriorations in nutrition, swallowing, cognition, and independence among geriatric people with Alzheimer’s disease who are living with their families (PWADLF), to examine how these conditions relate to and how much they affect the patients’ qualities of life. Methods: Standardized Mini-Mental Examination (SMMSE), Barthel Index (BI), Bedside Water Swallow Test (BWST), The Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), and Nottingham Health Profile (NHP) were determined. Results: According to the BWST results, 31.1% of patients had dysphagia. It was observed that 49.6% of the patients were at risk of malnutrition, and 30.3% were malnourished; 16% were highly dependent, 58.8% were moderately dependent, and only 1.7% were completely independent. It was observed that the SMMSE, MNA, and BI variables had a significant impact on the NHP variable. Conclusions: It was found in this study that elderly PWADLF are at risk for dysphagia and malnutrition. As the stage of patients progressed, it was observed that the risk of dysphagia and malnutrition increased, and their independence levels and quality of life decreased. It was found that quality of life is related to independence, nutrition, and cognitive level, and these conditions have a significant effect on the quality of life, respectively. Therefore, conditions such as malnutrition, which may decrease the quality of life in people with Alzheimer’s disease, should be evaluated early, and necessary corrective measures taken.

Background and Objective: Swallowing and nutritional disorders can occur for many different reasons after stroke. This study aimed to evaluate dysphagia, malnutrition, and independence in patients with an acute period of ischemic stroke, and to examine the relationship between dysphagia and lesion location, cognition, malnutrition, and dependence. Methods: Ischemic stroke patients (n: 109, mean age: 72.91 ± 11.78 year) were evaluated within the first 5 days after stroke. Standardized Mini-Mental State Examination (SMMSE), Combining pulse oximetry with a 10 milliliter (ml) Bedside Water Drinking Test (CPOBWDT), Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), and Barthel Index (BI) were performed. Results: Dysphagia was detected in 57.8% of the patients; malnutrition was present in 19.27% and 55.96% were at risk of malnutrition. In patients with dysphagia, it was observed that the most common site of infarct involved the superior cortical division of the middle cerebral artery. SMME (p<0.001) and BI (p=0.001) were significantly worse in patients with dysphagia than patients without dysphagia. Conclusion: This study showed that more than half of the ischemic stroke patients are at risk of dysphagia and malnutrition in the acute period after stroke. The localization of the infarct and a decrease in the cognitive level are among the factors that are associated with dysphagia. Dysphagia is associated with increased dependence for functional activities. Therefore, in patients with ischemic stroke, swallowing and malnutrition should be evaluated during the acute phase.