Swallowing disorders in nursing home residents in a city in northern Chile

Abstract

Purpose: to know the prevalence and characteristics of swallowing disorders in older people, institutionalized in nursing homes, in the city of Iquique. Methods: an observational, descriptive study, composed of 86 institutionalized older people, which evaluated for swallowing, by applying a food history, the MECV-V swallowing protocol, and the FOIS severity scale. The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics. Results: a prevalence of 70.9% of some types of swallowing disorders was estimated. The age range in which these difficulties predominate is between 75 and 90 years. Conclusion: swallowing disorders are highly prevalent in institutionalized older people, with variability in the degrees of severity. The implementation of routine protocols in nursing homes could help detect and prevent dysphagia and presbyphagia among residents.