Résumé
Adults with complex disabilities residing in MAS or EAM, likely to present swallowing disorders, are often faced with adaptations to their diets. In addition to adaptations in terms of posture and environment, food texture modifications may also be suggested. Thus, we wonder through this study about the interest of a diet in small tender pieces and on its potential repercussions on the chewing activity and therefore, on swallowing. So we counted the number of chewing cycles produced by residents during meals and we did the same for professional caregivers, in order to have a reference towards which residents are expected to tend. The results obtained are favourable regarding the isolated study of MAS and the two institutions combined. However, when we consider only MAS, residents produce fewer chewing cycles than caregivers, especially because of a different masticatory coefficient. The results also show a difference between MAS and EAM residents, which confirms our clinical finding. Texture 6 of IDDSI seems beneficial for adults with complex disabilities.