An Italian study of 48 men with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), 26 aged under 30 and 22 aged 30 or over, showed that:
- swallowing-related quality of life, assessed by the SWAL-QOL self-questionnaire, was significantly impaired (composite score ≤ 86 ) in 33 patients ;
- signs of dysautonomia, assessed by the Compass 31 questionnaire, were moderate, while functional impairment of the upper limbs measured by the Brooke scale was severe (mean score 5.4±0.5);
- swallowing-related quality of life was correlated with maximum inspiratory pressure and Compass 31 score;
- the SWAL-QOL score was 64.5±19.2 in the over-30s versus 76.6±16.3 in the younger age groups.
