Reply to Wakabayashi Regarding “Sarcopenia is an Independent Risk Factor for Dysphagia in Community-Dwelling Older Adults”

Excerpt

This is a reply to the letter by Wakabayashi who raised important points regarding our article on sarcopenic dysphagia [1]. Considering that sarcopenia is suggested as an important risk factor for dysphagia, it is a great pleasure that the validated diagnostic algorithm for sarcopenic dysphagia is available [2]. Actually, our study design was consistent with the algorithm. Our study cohort included adults who were 65 years and older [3], and hand-grip strength, walking ability, and general muscle mass, which were suggested in the algorithm, were measured. Swallowing function was evaluated using the Standardized Swallowing Assessment. Those with obvious causative disease of dysphagia were excluded. However, we acknowledge that we did not measure swallowing muscle strength; therefore, possible and probable sarcopenic dysphagia could not be distinguished. Currently, tongue pressure measurement is not widely used, except for Japan. Moreover, determining a cutoff value of the measurement is also difficult problem [2]. Thus, further studies on normative data of tongue pressure are warranted. …