Objective:
The Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10) is a self-administered questionnaire for dysphagia screening. Whether EAT-10 is a convenient tool for screening swallowing problems in nursing home residents is debatable. The Yale Swallow Protocol (YSP) is an easily administered, reliable, and validated swallow screening protocol. The aim of this study was to assess dysphagia using EAT-10 and YSP in nursing home residents.
Materials and Methods:
Residents without eating or cognitive problems were enrolled in the study. The EAT-10, YSP, Mini-Nutritional Assessment-Short Form, body mass index, hospitalizations for any reason/pneumonia-associated hospitalizations in the last year, comorbidities, and diet type were evaluated.
Results:
Ninety-nine residents were enrolled in this study. Dysphagia risk was 31.3% with EAT-10 and 18.2% with YSP. There was a fair agreement between EAT-10 and YSP. Dysphagia defined by YSP was associated with malnutrition risk.
Conclusion:
The risk of dysphagia in nursing home residents without documented prior swallowing disorder or complaints was high and variable with different tools, where self-reported dysphagia was higher. Nutritional status was associated with YSP-defined dysphagia risk but not with EAT-10.
Keywords: Aged, nursing home, dysphagia, eating Assessment Tool-10, Yale Swallow Protocol