Investigating Swallowing Performance and Swallowing Related Quality of Life Across Alzheimer’s Stages

<strong>Objective:</strong> Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder frequently accompanied by dysphagia, leading to malnutrition, dehydration, and aspiration pneumonia. While AD’s general impact on the quality of life is well-documented, the specific influence of swallowing disorders on the quality of life remains underexplored. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between swallowing function and swallowing-related quality of life across different stages of AD. <strong>Material and Methods: </strong>A total of 45 individuals aged 65 years diagnosed with AD were enrolled and clas sified into three groups-mild, moderate, and severe-based on Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scores, with 15 patients in each group. Swallowing function was assessed using the Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), the Timed Water Swallowing Test (TWST), and the Repeated Saliva Swallowing Test (RSST). Nutritional status was evaluated using the Mini Nutritional Assessment-Short Form (MNA-SF), and swallowing-related quality of life was measured using the Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire (SWAL-QOL). <strong>Results:</strong> Higher CDR scores were positively correlated with EAT-10 scores, indicating greater perceived swallowing difficulties, and negatively correlated with SWAL-QOL, TWST, RSST, and MNA-SF scores (p&lt;0.001). As AD severity increased, patients demonstrated reduced swallowing performance, poorer nutritional status, and lower quality of life. Statistically significant differences were observed in all measured outcomes across disease stages (p = 0.000), with the severe group showing the most deterioration. <strong>Conclusion:</strong> This study highlights a strong link between AD progression and impairments in swallowing function, nutrition, and related quality of life, emphasising the need for early dysphagia screening and timely nutritional interventions in clinical care.