Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the demographics of individuals presented with oropharyngeal dysphagia, correlation of different demographic factors with the quality of life (QOL) after validation of the Urdu translation of Swallowing Quality of Life (SWAL-QOL) questionnaire.
Methodology: A cross-sectional survey, carried out at the speech and language therapy department of Armed Forces Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, Rawalpindi from July 2013 to January 2014 enrolling patients > 50 years of age with oropharyngeal dysphagia and scoring them on Urdu translation of SWAL-QOL questionnaire. The reliability of the tool was measured through Cronbach's alpha coefficient.
Results: Of 40 patients, majority (60%) were males, married (62.5 %), illiterate (80%) and settling in age group of 51- 61 years. Most of them were from Punjab (30%) and Sindh (30%). The most common primary pathology was stroke (47.5%).The mean SWAL-QOL score was 147±13 (Range: 124 – 176). Most domains of questionnaire had Cronbach's alpha coefficient ≥ 0.7. No variable was found to be significantly affecting SWAL-QOL score.
Conclusion: The Urdu-translated version of SWAL-QOL is a valid tool. QOL in Pakistani patients of age > 50 years with oropharyngeal dysphagia is adversely affected, however, it does not depend on age, gender, marital status, education, ethnicity based on provinces or primary pathology for dysphagia.

Key words: Dysphagia, Quality of life, SWAL-QOL