Factors associated with probable sarcopenic dysphagia and development of a clinical classification model in older ICU patients: a cross-sectional study.
- 1Department of Nursing, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
Abstract
Objective
To analyze factors associated with probable sarcopenic dysphagia in older ICU patients, develop a clinical classification model, and provide evidence for early bedside identification and targeted intervention.Methods
A cross-sectional study was conducted with 160 older patients admitted to a tertiary ICU from January to December 2025 via convenience sampling. Patients were grouped using the Ishii sarcopenia screening score and the Modified Water Swallowing Test (MWST). Data collected included general patient characteristics, ultrasound measurements of swallowing-related muscles, gastric motility ultrasound parameters, functional status indicators, and nutritional risk screening results. Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression were applied to identify factors associated with the outcome. A classification model was constructed and visualized as a nomogram using R software.Results
The prevalence of probable sarcopenic dysphagia among older ICU patients was 65.62%. Multivariable logistic regression showed that NRS 2002 score ≥ 3, severe genioglossus muscle thinning, presence of comorbidities, abnormal vocalization, and voluntary cough ability score ≤ 2 were independently associated with higher odds of probable sarcopenic dysphagia. The apparent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.837 (95% CI: 0.775-0.900), and the bias-corrected AUC after bootstrap internal validation was 0.812.Conclusion
Probable sarcopenic dysphagia is highly prevalent in older ICU patients and is associated with nutritional status, swallowing muscle morphology, comorbidity burden, vocal function, and airway protective capacity. The classification model demonstrates good discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility, and may serve as a bedside tool for risk stratification. Multicenter external validation is required before clinical implementation.
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BibTeX
@article{shao2026factors,
title = {{Factors associated with probable sarcopenic dysphagia and development of a clinical classification model in older ICU patients: a cross-sectional study.}},
author = {Xiaoping Shao and Zixin Wang and Jie Li and Xianshuai Wu and Xiaoyan Zhu and Qunfeng Lu},
journal = {Frontiers in medicine},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3389/fmed.2026.1910425},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909125},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Factors associated with probable sarcopenic dysphagia and development of a clinical classification model in older ICU patients: a cross-sectional study.
AU - Xiaoping Shao
AU - Zixin Wang
AU - Jie Li
AU - Xianshuai Wu
AU - Xiaoyan Zhu
AU - Qunfeng Lu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/07
JO - Frontiers in medicine
DO - 10.3389/fmed.2026.1910425
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42909125
AB - Objective To analyze factors associated with probable sarcopenic dysphagia in older ICU patients, develop a clinical classification model, and provide evidence for early bedside identification and targeted intervention.Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted with 160 older patients admitted to a tertiary ICU from January to December 2025 via convenience sampling. Patients were grouped using the Ishii sarcopenia screening score and the Modified Water Swallowing Test (MWST). Data collected included general patient characteristics, ultrasound measurements of swallowing-related muscles, gastric motility ultrasound parameters, functional status indicators, and nutritional risk screening results. Univariate analysis and binary logistic regression were applied to identify factors associated with the outcome. A classification model was constructed and visualized as a nomogram using R software.Results The prevalence of probable sarcopenic dysphagia among older ICU patients was 65.62%. Multivariable logistic regression showed that NRS 2002 score ≥ 3, severe genioglossus muscle thinning, presence of comorbidities, abnormal vocalization, and voluntary cough ability score ≤ 2 were independently associated with higher odds of probable sarcopenic dysphagia. The apparent area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) was 0.837 (95% CI: 0.775-0.900), and the bias-corrected AUC after bootstrap internal validation was 0.812.Conclusion Probable sarcopenic dysphagia is highly prevalent in older ICU patients and is associated with nutritional status, swallowing muscle morphology, comorbidity burden, vocal function, and airway protective capacity. The classification model demonstrates good discrimination, calibration, and clinical utility, and may serve as a bedside tool for risk stratification. Multicenter external validation is required before clinical implementation.
SN - 2296-858X
ER -