Prevalence of Self-Reported Swallowing Difficulties and Swallowing-Related Quality of Life Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in India.
Thejaswi Dodderi, Drishti Sreenath, Mahima Jayaram Shetty and 5 others
PMID 38637434WHAT IT FOUND
In Indian community-dwelling older adults, 36.6% self-reported swallowing difficulties and 47.4% reported reduced quality of life.
Females reported significantly more difficulties than males. Common complaints were effort with solids, coughing, and food sticking.
Key findings
0136.6% of participants failed the EAT-10 screen for swallowing difficulties, with females scoring significantly higher than males.
0247.4% of participants reported poor swallowing-related quality of life on the DHI, with the physical domain most affected.
03There was a strong positive correlation between EAT-10 scores (difficulty) and DHI scores (quality of life impact).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Participants were exclusively urban-dwelling and could read English or Kannada, so results do not apply to rural populations or those with literacy barriers. No objective swallowing assessments (e.g., endoscopy or fluoroscopy) were performed, so some individuals with silent aspiration or functional impairment may have been missed. Health status was based on self-report without formal evaluation of frailty, nutrition, or socioeconomic factors, which may have influenced the reported prevalence. The cross-sectional design prevents any conclusions about the causes of swallowing difficulties or the effectiveness of interventions.
Declared interests
Funded by the Manipal Academy of Higher Education. No other conflicts of interest reported.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that a high prevalence of self-reported difficulties equates to clinical dysphagia confirmed by instrumental assessment. The study relied solely on questionnaires, so some reported symptoms may not reflect actual physiological impairment.