World Dysphagia Day: 80% of patients are not diagnosed or treated

Marta Charlo, nurse, Clinical Training area supervisor and researcher at IIS Aragón speaks in Heraldo de Aragón about Nutrifag, a multicenter research project to evaluate the risk of malnutrition and dysphagia in patients over 65 years of age

The Clinical Hospital participates in a multicenter research project to evaluate the risk of malnutrition and dysphagia in patients over 65 years of age.

A person swallows between 2.400 to 2.600 times a day and up to 30 muscles are involved in this action. The oropharyngeal dysphagia It is the difficulty in swallowing food from the oral cavity to the stomach. It is a symptom that accompanies other diseases, which is why it is usually underdiagnosed and undertreated and the associated complications are rarely taken into account, such as malnutrition and dehydration or even respiratory complications such as aspiration pneumonia. 

Coinciding with World Disease Day, which is celebrated this Tuesday, experts warn that 80% of patients are neither diagnosed nor receiving treatment for this pathology, despite being a clinical condition that It can affect up to 30 and 40% of the population over 65 years of age.

The Lozano Blesa University Clinical Hospital participates in the Nutrifag research project, led by Nursing and with multidisciplinary participation, which is carried out in nine centers in seven autonomous communities and nine hospitals. In total, more than 4.000 patients will be included (453 in each hospital). To date, the Clinic has worked with 264. 

It is led by the Nursing Research and Training Unit of Sector III and has the participation of 28 nurses, as well as a multidisciplinary team with different profiles. This is a work financed by the Carlos III Institute and co-financed by the European Union in a call for health research projects. 

The objective of this project is detect the risk and status of malnutrition and dysphagia in people over 65 years of age who are hospitalized in medical and surgical units of the selected hospitals and follow up from admission to discharge, explains Marta Charlo, nurse, Clinical Training area supervisor and researcher at IIS Aragón. Malnutrition in these age segments is a common problem at all levels of health care, and dysphagia is one of the main alterations associated with this risk. It is estimated that one in three patients over 65 years of age admitted to a hospital is malnourished.

This project seeks to know "the frequency of malnutrition and dysphagia in patients over 65 years of age, the associated factors and their relationship with the average length of stay, hospital mortality and early readmission", as well as the usefulness of screening and follow-up of malnutrition and dysphagia at the beginning of a hospital admission. Also "develop and evaluate nutritional interventions adapted to the presence of malnutrition and dysphagia and, above all, to the clinical situation of patients aged 65 years or older." 

In relation to patients, this project aims to "identify if there is a risk of malnutrition and dysphagia, establish a nutritional care plan appropriate to their needs, guarantee their safety by avoiding complications, achieve optimal nutritional status and develop education for the caregiver, family or patient. And with regard to professionals, it seeks to "give visibility to both malnutrition and dysphagia, improve the competence of professionals, and raise awareness and integrate them into a multidisciplinary team with established circuits of action as well as standardize procedures and recommendations."

Marta Charlo: "We want to confirm that nutritional screening is necessary in hospitals for people over 65 or older because it is more prevalent"

In parallel, it has been attempted include patients in the development of the study from the beginning and not only as a source of data, but through the active involvement of a Citizen Advisory Group that will advise and suggest activities that allow citizen participation in both methodological, procedural and dissemination aspects.

At the same time, according to Marta Charlo: "We want to confirm that nutritional screening is necessary in hospitals for people over 65 or older because it is more prevalent, but if this assessment of the state of health is implemented in all hospitals in the future, malnutrition and dysphagia, together with the adaptation of an optimal nutritional care plan, the patient's clinical situation can improve considerably. The project could end in March.

Source: The Herald of Aragon

Photos: Meeting by the Nutrifag team, in November 2022; HClinical hospital.