Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in a Community-Based Elderly Cohort: the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of dysphagia and evaluated the association of dysphagia and activities of daily living in a geriatric population residing in an independent-living facility in Korea. Korean men and women 65-yr and older living in a single, typical South Korean city (n = 415) were enrolled in the Korean Longitudinal Study on Health and Aging study. Dysphagia was assessed using the Standardized Swallowing Assessment. Data were collected on activities of daily living (ADL), instrumental ADL (IADL), and medical history and laboratory. The overall prevalence of dysphagia in the random sample was 33.7% (95% CI, 29.1-38.4), including 39.5% in men and 28.4% in women. The identified risk factors for dysphagia were men (OR, 3.6, P = 0.023), history of stroke (OR, 2.7, P = 0.042) and presence of major depressive disorder (OR, 3.0, P = 0.022). Dysphagia was associated with impairment in IADL domains of preparing meals and taking medicine (P = 0.013 and P = 0.007, respectively). This is the first published report of the prevalence of dysphagia in older community-dwelling Koreans. Dysphagia is a common problem among elderly people that limits some IADL domains.