Oropharyngeal Dysphagia and Diabetes Mellitus: Screening of 200 Type 1 and Type 2 Patients in Cairo, Egypt.

BACKGROUND: Although diabetes mellitus is a well-researched systemic endocrinal disease, literature is scarce addressing the co-occurrence of oropharyngeal dysphagia with diabetes. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this work was to screen Egyptian diabetic patients for symptoms suggestive of oropharyngeal dysphagia using the validated Arabic version of the Eating Assessment Tool (A-EAT-10). PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: 200 Egyptian adult diabetic patients, aged from 18 to 59 years participated in the study. The inclusion criteria were being diabetic patients of type 1 or type 2. Patients were asked to complete the A-EAT-10 questionnaire. RESULTS: Age progression and being female were found to be risk factors for dysphagia among diabetic patients participating in this study. The most common symptom among diabetic patients who complained of dysphagia was "I cough when I eat." CONCLUSION: The present study suggests the presence of oropharyngeal swallowing problems among patients with diabetes mellitus.

Development and Standardization of a Test for Pragmatic Language Skills in Egyptian Arabic: The Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test (EAPLT).

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to standardize an Egyptian Arabic Pragmatic Language Test (EAPLT) using linguistically and socially suitable questions and pictures in order to be able to address specific deficits in this language domain. PARTICIPANTS AND METHODS: Questions and pictures were designed for the EAPLT to assess 3 pragmatic language subsets: pragmatic skills, functions, and factors. Ten expert phoniatricians were asked to review the EAPLT and complete a questionnaire to assess the validity of the test items. The EAPLT was applied in 120 typically developing Arabic-speaking Egyptian children (64 females and 56 males) randomly selected by inclusion and exclusion criteria in the age range between 2 years, 1 month, 1 day and 9 years, 12 months, 31 days. Children's scores were used to calculate the means and standard deviations and the 5th and 95th percentiles to determine the age of the pragmatic skills acquisition. RESULTS: All experts have mostly agreed that the EAPLT gives a general idea about children's pragmatic language development. Test-retest reliability analysis proved the high reliability and internal consistency of the EAPLT subsets. A statistically significant correlation was found between the test subsets and age. CONCLUSION: The EAPLT is a valid and reliable Egyptian Arabic test that can be applied in order to detect a pragmatic language delay.