Association Between Sarcopenia Risk and Dysphagia Risk in Older Adults Not Certified for Long-Term Care Insurance in Japan

AIM: This study aimed to investigate the risk of sarcopenia and dysphagia in community-dwelling older adults aged 75 years and older who are not certified for long-term care insurance. METHODS: This cross-sectional study used self-administered questionnaires, including the SARC-F for sarcopenia risk and the Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10) for dysphagia risk, mailed to 1,000 randomly selected community-dwelling older adults aged 75 years and older who were not certified for long-term care insurance in Japan. Participants were classified according to their risk of sarcopenia (SARC-F ≥4) or dysphagia (EAT-10 ≥3). The association between sarcopenia and dysphagia risks was analyzed using chi-squared tests and logistic regression analysis, adjusting for age, sex, body mass index, and previous history of diseases that may cause dysphagia. RESULTS: Of 568 participants (median age 79.0 years, 282 {49.6%} male) with valid responses, 68 (12.0%) and 93 (16.4%) were in the sarcopenia and dysphagia risk groups, respectively. A significantly higher proportion of participants in the sarcopenia risk group were also classified in the dysphagia risk group (32 {47%} participants, p<0.001). Logistic regression analysis confirmed the association between sarcopenia risk and dysphagia risk (odds ratio: 5.2; 95% confidence interval: 2.91-9.29). CONCLUSIONS: We identified an association between sarcopenia and dysphagia risk in community-dwelling older adults who are not certified for long-term care insurance, with a significantly higher proportion of the sarcopenia risk group at risk for dysphagia. Our findings suggest that incorporating dysphagia screening into existing community-based sarcopenia screening efforts may be an effective approach to identifying older adults at risk for both conditions.