Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) is a widespread clinical condition among older adults. Although it represents a risk factor for malnutrition, dehydration and aspiration pneumonia, its assessment and contribution to functional decline is often ignored. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of OD in a large population of non-institutionalized older people and to evaluate its relationship with malnutrition and physical function. 10-item Eating Assessment Tool (EAT-10) and Mini Nutritional Assessment Short Form (MNA-SF) were used to identify the risk of dysphagia and malnutrition. Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and hand-grip strength were used as functional endpoints. The relationship between risk of dysphagia and functional outcomes was tested in a multivariate regression analysis adjusted for age and sex (Model 1) and for other confounders including Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) and polypharmacy (Model 2). Mean age of 773 subjects (61.3% female) was 81.97 years. The percentage of participants at risk of dysphagia (EAT ! 3) was 30.1%, 37.8% of subjects was malnourished (MNA-SF < 8), 46.2% was at risk of malnutrition (MNA-SF:8e11). EAT-10 was significantly and negatively associated to MNA-SF (b ¼ À0.47 ± 0.06, p < 0.0001) and the strength of the relationship was attenuated but still statistically significant in the multivariate model (b ¼ À0.28 ± 0.07, p < 0.0001). A significant and negative relationship was found between EAT-10 and SPPB and hand-grip strength in Model 1 (b ¼ À0.25 ± 0.05, p < 0.0001) and Model 2 (b ¼ À0.07 ± 0.03, p < 0.0001). After categorization of risk of dysphagia in two groups (at risk and not at risk), MNA-SF, SPPB and hand-grip strength were independently associated with higher risk of dysphagia (OR ¼ 0.91, 95%CI ¼ 0.83e0.99, p ¼ 0.03; OR ¼ 0.83, 95%CI ¼ 0.77e0.89, p < 0.0001; OR ¼ 0.96, 95%CI ¼ 0.92e0.99, p ¼ 0.02, respectively). In a large group of outpatient older individuals, we observed a significant negative association between risk of dysphagia and nutritional and physical performance, suggesting that the screening of OD, possibly supported by its assessment, should be implemented in the geriatric setting to potentially prevent the functional decline.

In this study, myocardial E', A' and S' velocities, in both the left and the right ventricle, were significantly affected by preload in healthy subjects. Our results support the usefulness of the E'/A' ratio as a relatively load-independent index of diastolic function.

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Background: Sex-differences have been demonstrated in the acute phase of COVID-19 infection; females (F) were found to be less prone to develop a severe disease than males (M), but few studies have assessed sex-differences in Long-Covid-19 syndrome. Aim and Results:The aim of this prospective/retrospective study was to characterize the long-term consequences of this infection from a sex-perspective. For this purpose, we enrolled 223 patients (89 F and 134 M) who experienced a SARS -CoV-2 infection.In the acute phase of the illness, females reported more frequently than males: weakness, dysgeusia, anosmia, thoracic pain, palpitations, diarrhea, and myalgia without significant differences in breathlessness, cough, and sleep disturbance. After a mean follow-up time of 5 months after the acute phase, females were significantly more likely than males to report weakness, thoracic pain, palpitations, and sleep disturbance but not myalgia and cough.At the multivariate logistic regression, women were statistically significantly likely to experience persistent symptoms such as dyspnoea, fatigue, chest pain, and palpitations.On the contrary, myalgia, cough and sleep disturbance were not influenced by sex. Conclusion:We demonstrated that females were more symptomatic than males not only in the acute phase but also at follow-up. Sex was found to be an important determinant of Long-COVID syndrome because it is a significant predictor of persistent symptoms in females, such as dyspnoea, fatigue, chest pain, and palpitations.Our results suggest the need for long-term follow-up of these patients from a sexperspective in order to implement early preventive and personalized therapeutic strategies.

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