Diagnosis and Treatment of Sarcopenic Dysphagia: A Scoping Review
Dysphagia
Wakabayashi, H., Kishima, M., et al. (2021).
Dysphagia, 36(3), 523-531.
This scoping review investigates assessment and treatment of individuals with sarcopenic dysphagia.
JSPS KAKENHI (Japan)
From database inception to October 2020
Original articles, case reports, and review articles
22 studies included in qualitative synthesis regarding diagnosis; 8 in qualitative synthesis regarding treatment
It is not recommended to diagnose sarcopenic dysphagia via individual diagnoses of sarcopenia and dysphagia. Definitively diagnosing sarcopenic dysphagia through consensus diagnostic criteria was challenging due to difficulty imaging the loss of muscle mass. It may be possible to image loss of muscle mass via MRI, CT, or ultrasound. The Working Group on Sarcopenic Dysphagia's diagnostic algorithm is the only valid and reliable method to diagnose sarcopenic dysphagia.
Interdisciplinary rehabilitation (comprised of swallowing exercises to improve sarcopenia and sarcopenic dysphagia) and nutritional support improved nutritional status with improvements on outcome measures such as the Functional Oral Intake Scale and Eating Assessment Tool-10.
