Evaluation of the Swallowing and Voice Functions in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients

This study aimed to evaluate the swallowing and voice functions in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Thirty patients with ankylosing spondylitis (Group 1) and 30 healthy individuals (Group 2) were included in the study. Following the laryngoscopic evaluation of the patients, the fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing was performed, and then, the penetration–aspiration score was determined. The participants were asked to fill the eating assessment tool form. Voice recordings obtained to evaluate sound disorders were measured acoustically and analyzed using the PRAAT program. In terms of swallowing, the penetration–aspiration score obtained as a result of the flexible endoscopic swallowing assessment and eating assessment tool score was found to be higher in Group 1 than in Group 2, and a statistically significant difference was noted ( p ≤ 0.001). When analyzing the maximum phonation time ( p