OBJECTIVE: To measure the impact of dysphagia on the quality of life in individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD). Development: This was a cross-sectional study. All patients with ambulatory movement disorders were invited to participate, including those who were diagnosed with PD. The patients included in this study completed 3 assessments: speech screening, SWAL-QOL, and Hoehn and Yahr scale test. In total, 74 patients were screened; 33 patients (14 men and 7 women) had dysphagia and were included in the study. The average age was 66.8 years, and the average disease duration was 11.6 years. Quality of life was assessed using the items related to speech screening with 11 domains on the SWAL-QOL. Significant associations were found for domain 11 (fatigue) with recent weight loss, change in food consistency, and current consistency ingested by the patient; domain 3 (feeding duration) with anterior saliva leakage and with the consistency mentioned in the complaint; domains 6 (communication) and 4 (frequency of symptoms) with the oral phase; and domain 7 (fear of food) with recent weight loss. Although 90.5% of the subjects complained of gagging, there was no significant association with any of the quality of life domains in the SWAL-QOL. Furthermore, 42.9% of patients had already made some kind of change in feeding habits that facilitated swallowing. CONCLUSION: These results show that dysphagia has an impact on the quality of life of PD patients in the early stages.
