- Dysphagia (Swallowing Disorder)
The Hong Kong Adventist Hospital offers specialist physicians in respiratory medicine, speech therapists and dietitians, who are devoted in helping patients in a comprehensive, personalized and advanced assessment and rehabilitation program.
What is Dysphagia?
Dysphagia, also referred to as swallowing disorder, refers to difficulties in swallowing that may occur at any stage of the swallowing process. Swallowing disorder can happen along with various medical conditions such as:
- Stroke
- Parkinsonism
- Dementia
- Head and neck tumour
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Astham
- Sleep apnea
Often, dysphagia is a result of impaired neural control to the muscles that are responsible for swallowing. The disorder can arise from treatment-related side-effects such as muscle fibrosis or an altered anatomy of the swallowing track after surgery. It also affects the elderly due to deterioration of neural control and muscle loss as well as children who are premature, or have developmental problems, or congenital diseases.
Evaluation and Diagnosis
Initial assessment includes taking a detailed medical history and performing a physical examination of swallowing function.
Further examination may be required and could include x-rays, fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), pH probe, and tests for the diagnosis of muscular dystrophy and metabolic myopathies.
EAT-10: A Swallowing Screening Tool
The following questionnaire helps to screen and measure swallowing difficulties initially, and shall not be substituted for a medical examination, diagnosis or professional advice. If you are experiencing swallowing problems, it is important to consult your physician and speech therapist about assessment and treatment options.
| To what degree to you experience the following problems? |
0 = No problem
4 = Severe problem
|
| 1) My swallowing problem has caused me to lose weight. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 2) My swallowing problem interferes with my ability to go out for meals. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 3) Swallowing liquids takes extra effort. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 4) Swallowing solids takes extra effort. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 5) Swallowing pills takes extra effort. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 6) Swallowing is painful. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 7) The pleasure of eating is affected by my swallowing. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 8) When I swallow food sticks in my throat. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 9) I cough when I eat. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| 10) Swallowing is stressful. |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
| EAT-10 Score Total (Add all numbers above): |
|
Reference: Belafsky, P. C., Mouadeb, D. A., Rees, C. J., Pryor, J. C., Postma, G. N., Allen, J., & Leonard, R. J. (2008). Validity and Reliability of the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10). Annals of Otology, Rhinology & Laryngology, 117(12), 919-924. doi:10.1177/000348940811701210
Result
If your score is 3 or higher, dysphagia is likely to be present. It is recommended that you share your EAT-10 results with your physician or speech therapist.
- Speech therapy services for children
Many diseases can affect a patient's ability to understand others and express themselves. Speech therapy can help people who are not able to make speech sounds or cannot speak clearly.
Speech therapists also work with people who stutter, have fluency and rhythm problems, inappropriate pitch, or harsh voice and speech quality problems. Patients with the following conditions can often be helped with speech therapy.
- Developmental delay in speech and / or language (with / without hearing impairment)
- Difficulty in communicating basic needs / wants (inc. auditory comprehension and verbal expression)
- Swallowing difficulty (at risk for silent aspiration when drinking / eating)
- Traumatic Brain Injury, Stroke, or other neurological conditions
- Learning difficulty / disability
- Facial paralysis, decreased labial / lingual musculature
- Naming difficulty / acquired language disorders / dyspraxia post-stroke
- Voice problem (including organic / functional / psychogenic)
- Stuttering (Dysfluency of speech)
We also offer Domiciliary Visits (Home service) should there be a necessity.
