Dysphagia and Oral Health in Older Adults with Motoric Cognitive Risk Syndrome.

Cross-sectional design cannot establish causality or direction; swallowing difficulty may precede, follow, or co-occur with MCRS. Dysphagia and oral health were assessed only by self-report questionnaires (EAT-10 and GOHAI). No objective measures such as videofluoroscopy or FEES were used, and periodontal disease or tooth count were not evaluated. Participants were recruited from a geriatric outpatient clinic at a referral hospital, so they may be more medically complex than the general community-dwelling population. The authors note this may have inflated the MCRS prevalence. All participants could already walk without an assistive device and had MMSE scores of 24 or higher, so findings do not apply to those with more severe cognitive or mobility impairment. Sample size (152) is smaller than most studies examining MCRS risk factors, though post-hoc power analysis reported 0.99 power.

Funded by the University of Health Sciences. No author conflicts of interest reported.

Do not read this as evidence that treating swallowing difficulty prevents MCRS or that poor oral health causes it. The design is cross-sectional, swallowing was measured by questionnaire rather than instrumental assessment, and oral health showed no independent association after adjustment. The finding is an association between perceived swallowing difficulty and a syndrome defined partly by subjective cognitive complaints.