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The following is a summary of “A Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Characteristics of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Critically Ill Patients During the Acute and Postacute Recovery Phase,” published in the March 2025 issue of Critical Care Medicine by Donohue et al. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to determine the prevalence and characteristics of oropharyngeal dysphagia in adults with critical illness during acute and postacute care settings.  

They registered on PROSPERO and followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. Searches were conducted across 5 databases (PubMed, Scopus, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, and Embase) from inception to September 2024, using terms related to dysphagia, deglutition disorders, swallowing disorders, sepsis, postintensive care syndrome, COVID-19, and critical illness, 2 raters independently screened studies based on 4 criteria: adults over 18 years, diagnosis of COVID-19, sepsis, critical illness, or postintensive care syndrome with dysphagia, completion of a clinical swallow evaluation, and presence in acute or postacute care settings. The research evidence levels, and bias was assessed using the Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Levels of Evidence and the Modified Downs and Black Checklist. Extracted data included demographics, study design, dysphagia assessment methods, outcomes, and comorbidities.  

The results showed that after removing duplicates, 5,058 articles were identified, and 4,844 were excluded based on title and abstract screening. A full-text review was conducted for 214 articles, of which 51 met the inclusion criteria. The prevalence of dysphagia ranged from 15% to 100%. Dysphagia persisted in up to 74% of individuals at hospital discharge and remained in up to 22% of individuals between 10 to 17 months posthospital discharge.  

Investigators concluded that while firm conclusions could not be drawn due to study design limitations, high risk of bias, and heterogeneity, current data suggested a high prevalence of dysphagia persisting beyond 12 months post-discharge in adults with critical illness. 

Source: journals.lww.com/ccmjournal/abstract/9900/a_systematic_review_of_the_prevalence_and.497.aspx