Preoperative dysphagia risk in community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years: Prevalence and risk factors

Preoperative dysphagia screening is rare. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and potential risk factors of preoperative dysphagia risk in adults preparing for surgery.

The Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10), Patient-Generated Subjective Global Assessment Short Form (PG-SGA SF), and Sarcopenia Screening Tool (SARC-F) were self-administered in adults preparing for surgery to identify dysphagia, malnutrition, and sarcopenia risk, respectively. Other variables collected include clinical demographics, fall risk, and surgical history associated with increased dysphagia risk. Descriptive summary statistics, univariate analysis, and logistic regression were performed as appropriate.

The median age was 69 years and preoperative dysphagia risk was 9.6%. Among 357 patients completing both EAT-10 and PG-SGA SF or SARC-F, 7.3% had preoperative dysphagia and malnutrition risk and 7.2% had preoperative dysphagia and sarcopenia risk. Preoperative dysphagia risk was 2.7 times greater in those with prior surgical history associated with increased risk of dysphagia, 2.2 times higher in women, and almost twice as high in Black patients and patients with fall risk. Logistic regression revealed significant odds ratios (ORs) for prior surgical history associated with increased risk of dysphagia (OR, 2.95; 95% CI, 1.62-5.40) and male sex (OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29-0.94), and a significant relationship between preoperative dysphagia and malnutrition risk (OR, 4.56; 95% CI, 2.02-10.28) when controlling for clinical variables.

The high prevalence of dysphagia risk alone and in combination with malnutrition and sarcopenia risk in community-dwelling adults underscores the need for standardized preoperative screening and optimization prior to surgery.