Dysphagia in Rheumatoid Arthritis

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

flexible fiberoptic pharyngolaryngoscopy: Flexible Endoscopic Evaluations of Swallowing (FEES) will be used to examine the nose, throat, and airway to diagnose possible causes of dysphagia. The dysphagia severity scale via FEES will be scored. It is a flexible process that may be applied to a variety of situations and objectives (named as flexible pharyngolaryngoscopy). Following the routine oropharyngeal examination, its versatility can enable it to be used as a laryngoscope for examining the larynx and adjacent regions.

Study summary

The primary goal of this cross-sectional study is to assess risk factors/predictors for dysphagia in RA.

The secondary goals include demonstrating whether flexible fiberoptic pharyngolaryngoscopy can detect joint-affection-induced dysphagia in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and whether both oropharyngeal and esophageal dysphagia are present among these patients.

The main questions it aims to answer are

* What are the predictors that are associated with dysphagia via flexible fiberoptic pharyngolaryngoscopy in rheumatoid arthritis patients?
* Whether flexible fiberoptic pharyngolaryngoscopy can detect joint-affection-induced dysphagia in patients with RA?
* Whether both oropharyngeal and esophageal dysphagia are present in patients with RA?

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Identifying potential predictors of dysphagia severity in rheumatoid arthritis patients. — The assessment of dysphagia severity via FEES typically will take nearly 25 minutes. The duration of clinical, laboratory, and radiological tests will take 1 to 2 days and may vary depending on the specific circumstances.
  Demonstrating the associations between the dysphagia severity scale (DSS) via flexible/fibre-optic endoscopic evaluations of swallowing (FEES) and the following: 1. Active disease by disease activity score in 28 joints with C-reactive protein (DAS28-CRP ): low if DAS28-CRP score was less than 3.2, moderate if the score between 3.2 and 5.1, or high if the score \> 5.1. 2. RA patient's malfunction by Modified Health Assessment Questionnaire (MHAQ): mild functional loss if score less than 1.3, moderate if score between 1.3 and 1.8, severe loss if \> 1.8 3. Temporomandibular dysfunction: mild TMJ dysfunction if score from 20 to 40, moderate dysfunction if score from 45 to 65 and severe TMJ dysfunction if the score from 70 to 100. 4. Cricoarytenoid joint dysfunction. 5. Specific change in temporomandibular (TMJ) joints by cone beam CT imaging.

Trial sites (2)

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