Assessing the impact of dysphagia on quality of life and determining SWAL-QOL cut-off scores in diabetes mellitus patients: a data mining approach.

AIM: Swallowing difficulties are increasingly recognized as a significant yet underreported complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), with evidence suggesting that more than 50 % of patients with the condition may be affected. This study aimed to assess the impact of swallowing disorders on the quality of life in DM patients, to identify other factors influencing swallowing disorders, and to determine the cut-off score for the SWAL-QOL questionnaire in these patients using data mining methods.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study analyzed 150 DM patients, assessing swallowing assessment using the EAT-10, quality of life with the SWAL-QOL, and swallowing difficulty through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS).

RESULTS

Patients with dysphagia exhibited significantly lower scores across multiple SWAL-QOL subgroups-including General Burden, Food Selection, Eating Duration, Eating Desire, Fear of Eating, Sleep, Fatigue, Communication, Mental Health, Social Functioning, and the total SWAL-QOL score compared to non-dysphagic patients (p < 0.001). The Swallowing Difficulty-VAS score was significantly elevated in dysphagic patients (p < 0.001). EAT-10 scores were correlated with Swallowing Difficulty-VAS and SWAL-QOL subgroups, including General Burden, Food Selection, Eating Duration, Eating Desire, Fear of Eating, Sleep, Fatigue, Communication, Mental Health, Social Functioning, and the total score. The SWAL-QOL total score cut-off of 65.7 was identified for DM patients with dysphagia.

CONCLUSIONS

Close monitoring of these symptoms by clinicians is essential, and targeted rehabilitation interventions are strongly recommended to improve both swallowing function and overall quality of life in this population.