The prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in Danish patients hospitalised with community-acquired pneumonia

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) and oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) are prevalent conditions in the elderly. The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between CAP, OD, and frailty in patients admitted to a department of respiratory medicine at a regional hospital. The outcome was mortality during hospitalization and within 30 days of discharge and rehospitalization within 30 days of discharge. A total of 154 consecutive patients (54.5% male, mean age 77.4 years (SD 11.51)) hospitalized because of CAP from September 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 at North Denmark Regional Hospital were included in this study. The volume-viscosity swallow test was conducted for each patient. A total of 34.42% patients presented with OD. Patients with OD and CAP presented significant differences in age, CURB-65, and dementia compared with those of patients with CAP alone. The majority lived in nursing homes, had a lower body mass index, Barthel 20 score, and handgrip strength, and had poor oral health compared with patients with CAP only. Patients with OD presented an increased length of stay in hospital (P < 0.001), intra-hospital mortality (P < 0.001), and 30-day mortality rate (P < 0.001) compared with those of patients with CAP only. Their rate of rehospitalization 0–30 days after discharge was also increased (P < 0.001) compared with that of patients with CAP only. Thus, OD is related to frailty and poor outcome.