Cognitive impairment and mild to moderate dysphagia in elderly patients: a retrospective controlled study

Background: To investigate whether cognitive impairment in elderly patients could correlate with the severity of swallowing disorders detectable through the endoscopic fiber optic evaluation. Methods: Elderly patients (≥65 years) performing a swallowing evaluation were included and divided according to the Dysphagia outcome and severity scale (DOSS). Neurological evaluation and Mini-Mental test examination (MMET) were administered to detect cognitive impairment. Results: Significantly worse swallowing function was reported in the cognitive impairment group than the control one (40% vs 19%; P =.001). A different significant distribution of swallowing performance was detected according to the patient’s MMET score (P <.001; P <.001; P =.01). At the ANOVA test among dependent variables assessed, only age>65 and MMET<10 were significantly correlated with swallowing function (F = 3.862, P =.028; F = 17.49, P =.000). Conclusions: The elderly patient has an increased risk for unrecognized swallowing disorders, with a prevalence of mild to moderate forms. Assessment of cognitive performance could facilitate the identification of swallowing disorders by providing a higher level of suspicion for silent aspiration in subjects with poor MMET scores.