Some older adults with a poor dental state, but not suffering from swallowing disorders (dysphagia), could be given crushed drugs unnecessarily, just because they are given texture modified food. Thirty-nine residents were included in this analysis of nursing home practices: mainly women (28/39); mean age 86.8 +/-7.7; Groupe Iso-Ressource (GIR) 1.7 +/- 0.6; Mini Mental State (MMS) 16.5 +/- 6.0; crushed drugs 26/38; swallowing disorders 14/39; mixed and mashed food 25/38. Crushed drugs were associated with mixed and mashed food (P = 0.001), male gender (P = 0.008) and lower mastication ability (P = 0.015), but not with swallowing disorders (P = 1). Seventeen patients not recorded as having swallowing disorders were given crushed drugs. In conclusion, a poor dental health is frequently but not systematically related to swallowing disorders. This is not an indication for crushing drugs, because tablets and capsules don’t have to be chewed before being swallowed.
(1) S. Pasqualini, A.M. Barisic, M. Serris, C. Rio, I. Precheur Jour Nursing Home Res 2019;5:76-79