Association of swallowing problems with frailty in Chinese hospitalized older patients

To estimate the prevalence of dysphagia and frailty among hospitalized older patients and to analyze the relationship between dysphagia and frailty in these people.

Data were collected on 386 participants aged 65 and older in a general hospital from April to December 2017. Patients were asked to complete a self-designed demographic questionnaire. Frailty and swallowing function assessments were performed using the Fried frailty phenotype and the 30-ml water swallowing test, respectively. Multiple stepwise logistic regression analyses were used to identify the association between frailty and dysphagia.

Dysphagia developed in 31.1% of older people, and 24.4% developed frailty. Frailty was statistically significantly related with dysphagia. Dysphagia was more prevalent in frail and pre-frail patients (48.9% and 32.4%, respectively) than those who were non-frail (13.6%). In multivariate analyses, frail（OR, 5.420; 95% CI, 2.684-10.944；P＜0.001） and history of choking/coughing while drinking（OR, 2.954; 95% CI, 1.844-4.733；P＜0.001）were associated with dysphagia.result.

Frailty is associated with dysphagia. More attention should be paid to frailty and dysphagia of the elderly and further studies are needed to evaluate the correlated mechanism and develop targeted nursing interventions.