It is well known that oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is a symptom arising from many different aetiologies or disease conditions and that it is a significant morbidity affecting people’s quality of life. Establishing the prevalence of OD is complicated by the many different instruments used to identify dysphagia including patient self-report tools, clinician-rated tools and instrumental assessments which may mar the true prevalence. The authors of this systematic review and meta-analysis have therefore chosen to investigate the prevalence of OD worldwide by analysing studies that have reported and confirmed the presence of dysphagia using instrumental assessments of videofluoroscopy or video-endoscopy (FEES). They developed the protocol in line with PRISMA standards and explored six electronic databases resulting in a final inclusion of 30 studies. They found a combined prevalence of 60% [CI 95% =50%–70%], however they caution that the wide variation between baseline conditions for underlying disease and/or risk factors tended to overestimate the prevalence. Healthy individuals were only assessed in one study which showed a prevalence of 31% [CI 95% =27%–36%]. Despite the prudence required in interpreting these prevalence findings, the review highlights that OD is a significant and sizable problem.
How common is oropharyngeal dysphagia amongst the adult population?
Reviewed by Roganie Govender
The Prevalence of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta‑analysis.
CONTRIBUTOR
Roganie Govender
University College London, Head & Neck Academic Centre, UK.
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