Prevalence of penetration and aspiration in Parkinson’s disease in rehabilitation center

Abstract

Introduction: Laryngotracheal penetration and/or aspiration are clinical findings that are an important parameter in the measurement of the risk for swallowing safety due to possible pulmonary complications. Objective: To identify the prevalence of penetration and/or aspiration in Parkinson’s disease (PD) in a Specialized Rehabilitation Center. Method: Retrospective observational clinical study. We analyzed 39 reports of fiberoptic endoscopy swallowing test performed at the Dysphagia Rehabilitation Center “University of São Paulo-UNESP/Marília” from 2006 to 2016. Of the 39 (100%) individuals, 19 (48.71%) were female and 20 (51.28%), ranging from 43 to 85 years old (mean age of 71 years), and only 29 (74.35%) of these individuals presented a classification of Hoehn & Yahr (1967) ranging from one to five. The analysis of the penetration and aspiration was performed in paste, liquid, thickened and liquid consistencies, with a volume varying from 5 to 10 ml according to the definition proposed by Rosenbek et al., 1996. For the statistical analysis Fisher’s test was used. Results: It was verified that 28 (71.79%) individuals presented no laryngotracheal penetration and/or aspiration and 11 (28.21%) presented. Of these 11 (28.21%), four (10.25%) presented penetration / aspiration in paste consistency (p = 0.05), nine (23.07%) in the thickened liquid (p = 0.07) and nine (23.07%) in the thin liquid (p = 0.02). Conclusion: In the population studied in this setting, the absence of penetration and/or aspiration was more frequent and the presence was significant only of the liquid.