Exploring the Factors Affecting Swallowing Factors of Long-term Care Institution Residents in Taichung and Changhua

[[abstract]]Introduction and Purpose: Along with aging and the degeneration of physiological function, the eating ability of the elderly would be affected gradually, and their oral chewing function and their swallowing coordination would be degraded, and that results in inadequate nutrients intake which seriously threatened the health conditions and even caused a poor living quality as well. Therefore, this study mainly explored the related factors in the demographic variables, Self-Reported Chewing Ability Scale and actual oral chewing ability for those residents of long-term care institutions. Methodology: A cross-sectional interviewing questionnaire was implemented in long-term care institutions that located in Taichung and Changhua areas. The questionnaire was comprised of demographic variables, Self-Reported Chewing Ability Scale, and actual measurements of chewing ability and oral moisture. All the data were analyzed by t-test, ANOVA, correlation and linear regression. Results: There were 579 copies of questionnaires done in 26 long-term care institutions which located in Taichung and Changhua areas, and 565 ones collected which 553 copies were valid(valid rate = 97.8%). The result of ANOVA test revealed that ‘age’ significantly affected the scores of Self-Reported Chewing Ability Scale, actual swallowing ability and actual measurement of oral moisture. The linear regression result showed that those who got higher score of Self-Reported Chewing Ability Scale, would be better in their actual measurement results of swallowing ability and oral moisture. Conclusions: This study found that the residents who are older and have lower score of Self-Reported Chewing Ability Scale, then their actual swallowing ability and actual measurement of oral moisture would be worse as well; in addition, their probability of chewing difficulty would be increased, and then it not only affects the nutrients intake, but also the dry mouth sensation for them. Therefore, it is necessary aware of seniors’ dry mouth conditions and older people with dry mouth would have more problems and the caregivers should not only take care of their supplement of water, but also their difficulty at chewing and swallowing abilities