# Is there a decline in speech and swallowing in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis over ten years?

## TL;DR

This study shows that speech and swallowing decline over ten years in ALS patients, with faster decline in those with bulbar-type ALS.

## Contribution

The study provides new insights into the progression patterns of speech and swallowing decline in ALS over a decade.

## Key findings

- Speech, swallowing, and salivation decline over ten years in ALS patients.
- The bulbar type of ALS causes faster decline in speech and swallowing than the spinal type.
- Sex and disease type influence the progression patterns of dysarthria and dysphagia.

## Abstract

To analyze the evolution of speech and swallowing decline in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) over a ten-year period.

A retrospective and longitudinal cohort study. Data were collected using the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) from 101 medical records of ALS patients treated at the multidisciplinary neuromuscular diseases clinic of a University Hospital over a ten-year period. The data were statistically analyzed, adopting a significance level of p<0.05.

The analysis of the studied functions indicated that speech, swallowing, and salivation are altered over ten years in ALS. There are differences in patterns between the variables sex and disease type concerning symptoms related to dysarthria and dysphagia in these individuals, which may indicate the rate of progression over a given time interval.

There is a decline in speech and swallowing over ten years in ALS. The bulbar type leads to a faster decline in the studied functions than the spinal type.

Analisar a evolução do declínio da fala e da deglutição em pacientes com esclerose lateral amiotrófica (ELA) ao longo de dez anos.

Estudo de coorte, retrospectivo e longitudinal. Foi realizado por meio da coleta de dados da escala funcional Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) em 101 prontuários de pacientes com ELA atendidos no ambulatório multidisciplinar de doenças neuromusculares de um Hospital Universitário, em um período de dez anos. Os dados foram analisados estatisticamente, adotando o valor de p<0,05.

A análise das funções estudadas indicou que a fala, a deglutição e a salivação são alteradas ao longo de dez anos na ELA. Há diferenças de padrões entre as variáveis sexo e tipo da doença, nos sintomas relacionados à disartria e à disfagia nesses indivíduos, podendo precisar em dias o quanto esta evolução ocorre ao longo de um determinado intervalo de tempo.

Há declínio da fala e da deglutição ao longo de dez anos na ELA. O tipo bulbar provoca um declínio mais rápido das funções estudadas, do que o tipo espinhal.