Dysphagia · Nov 6, 2026

Association Between Socioeconomic Status and Dysphagia Among Japanese Adults

By Kitamura H, Tanaka K, Ihara Y et al.

Socioeconomic status (SES) is a well-established determinant of various health outcomes; however, its association with dysphagia remains poorly understood. We examined the association of household income and educational attainment with the prevalence of dysphagia among community-dwelling Japanese adults. This cross-sectional study included a total of 9,912 adults (4,225 men aged 21–95 years and 5,687 women aged 20–91 years). Dysphagia was assessed using the 10-item Eating Assessment Tool. SES was evaluated by self-reported household income and educational attainment. Logistic regression analysis was performed, stratified by age (younger: <65 years; older: ≥65 years) and sex. Models were adjusted for age, smoking status, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity, living alone, number of medications, toothbrushing frequency, self-reported bilateral posterior occlusal support, hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and body mass index. In both sexes, household income was significantly associated with lower odds of dysphagia among participants aged ≥ 65 years, but not among those aged < 65 years. Conversely, an inverse association between educational attainment and the prevalence of dysphagia was consistently observed in men regardless of age, whereas this association was only observed among women aged < 65 years. Higher household income was inversely associated with dysphagia among men and women aged ≥ 65 years. Higher educational attainment was inversely associated with dysphagia among men regardless of age and women aged < 65 years.

doi.org/10.1007/s00455-026-11020-8 PubMed 42993201 Populations