Muscle loss with swallowing trouble linked to worse outlook
In a retrospective study of 363 older patients with heart failure, 24.0% had muscle loss with swallowing difficulty, which was associated with poorer one-year outcomes.
Researchers analysed 363 patients aged 65 or older admitted with heart failure between June 2021 and December 2023 in a retrospective observational study. Their median age was 83, and 46.6% were women. At discharge, 61 had no sarcopenia, a loss of muscle mass and strength; 215 had sarcopenia alone; and 87 had sarcopenic dysphagia, meaning sarcopenia with difficulty swallowing.
The group with both conditions had poorer swallowing-related test results than those without sarcopenia. Sarcopenic dysphagia was also associated with a higher risk of death from any cause or heart-failure readmission over one year. The hazard ratio, a measure of relative risk over time, was 2.53 compared with those without sarcopenia. Sarcopenia alone was not statistically significantly associated with this combined outcome.
Why it matters
For older people with heart failure, the study addresses whether assessing swallowing alongside muscle health could help clinicians judge future health risks.
Caveats
This retrospective observational study cannot establish cause and effect. Its findings concern hospitalised patients aged 65 or older with heart failure, not younger people or people without heart failure.
The paper
Prevalence and Prognostic Impact of Sarcopenic Dysphagia in Older Patients With Heart Failure
Sagamihara Kyodo Hospital
Circulation Reports, 16 Oct 2026, CC BY-NC-ND
