Vol.:(0123456789) 1 3 European Geriatric Medicine https://doi.org/10.1007/s41999-019-00206-z RESEARCH PAPER Which swallowing difculty of food consistency is best predictor for oropharyngeal dysphagia risk in older person? Ebru Umay 1  · Sibel Eyigor 2  · Ali Yavuz Karahan 3  · Dilek Keskin 4  · Gulten Karaca 4  · Zeliha Unlu 5  · Canan Tıkız 5  · Meltem Vural 6  · Banu Aydeniz 6  · Ebru Alemdaroglu 7  · Emine Esra Bilir 7  · Ayse Yalıman 8  · Ekin Ilke Sen 8  · Mazlum Serdar Akaltun 9  · Ozlem Altındag 9  · Betul Yavuz Keles 10  · Meral Bilgilisoy 11  · Zeynep Alev Ozcete 12  · Aylin Demirhan 12  · Ibrahim Gundogdu 1 Received: 13 March 2019 / Accepted: 15 May 2019 © European Geriatric Medicine Society 2019 Key summary points Aim Our aim was to investigate which swallowing difculty of food consistency in older people who did not have any disease that might afect swallowing functions, and which symptoms were most likely related to oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) risk. Findings We have found that the eating/drinking difculty of thick liquids was the highest predictive value with respect to OD risk and the eating difculty of mixed content food had the highest diagnostic ratio. Message The present study reports that even in older person who do not go to the hospital with the complaints of swallowing difculty, the difculty of swallowing thick liquids and especially the mixed content food should be questioned. Abstract Purpose The present study aimed to investigate which swallowing difculty of food consistency in participants over 65 years of age who did not have any disease that might afect swallowing functions, and which symptoms were most likely related to oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD). Methods The cross-sectional and multicenter study was conducted at 12 hospitals including 883 participants aged ≥65 years who were fed orally and who were admitted to the physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinics between Septem- ber 2017 and December 2018. Demographic characteristics were recorded. Katz Daily Living Activities Index (KDLAI), swallowing-related quality of life scale (Swal-QoL) and 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) were used. The partici- pants were asked the “yes” or “no” questions including swallowing difculty of various types of food consistency with the face-to-face interview. * Ebru Umay ebruumay@gmail.com 1 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic, Ankara Diskapi Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Altindag, Ankara, Turkey 2 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey 3 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Usak University, Usak, Turkey 4 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Kırıkkale University, Kirikkale, Turkey 5 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Turkey 6 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Turkey 7 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Ankara Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Ankara, Turkey 8 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey 9 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Gaziantep University, Gaziantep, Turkey 10 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Istanbul Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey 11 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Turkey 12 Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Izmir Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, Izmir, Turkey