A influência das alterações de comunicação e alimentação na qualidade de vida do paciente com esclerose lateral amiotrófica

Abstract

Introduction: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis - ALS is a muscular, incurable neurodegenerative disease that affects the motor neurons responsible for voluntary movements. The quality of life in ALS is measured using the ALSAQ-40 instrument, which assesses the domains of mobility, daily living activities, eating and swallowing, communication and emotional. Objective: To verify the influence of communication and feeding disorders on the quality of life of the ALS patient, analyzing the studies that used the ALSAQ-40 questionnaire. Method: It is an integrative review of the literature carried out in databases, using controlled descriptors. Data were extracted from those articles, regarding the year of publication, the journal in which they were published, type of study, objective, number of participants, gender, age, diagnosis time, conclusions, ALSAQ-40 results and internal consistency analysis of the domains of ALSAQ-40. Results: From the 330 articles identified, eight were selected. The number of participants per study ranged from 20 to 1405 subjects, the majority was male, aged between 27 and 93 years old. The ALSAQ-40 instrument has been shown to be reliable for research and clinical practice. The domain of communication impaired quality of life more than the domain of food and swallowing, which has the lowest impact on the quality of life of patients with ALS. Conclusions: Subjects with ALS demonstrate that the domain of communication has a higher impact on quality of life than food and swallowing, which demonstrates how communication is important for the quality of life of people with ALS.