The Relationship Between the Risk of Aspiration Pneumonia and the Risk of Aspiration: Aspiration Risk and Aspiration Pneumonia Risk Are Not the Same?

Validation of the applicability of the mealtime observation checklist in predicting the risk of aspiration pneumonia in older adults receiving oral intake support: A retrospective cohort study of four long‐term care facilities

“…First, this study examined the signs/symptoms/conditions noticed during mealtime observation in order to focus on aspiration at mealtimes; however, aspiration during sleep or silent aspiration may also occur. Moreover, factors associated with AP may include smoking, 3,27 neurodegenerative diseases (such as multiple sclerosis and parkinsonism), 4 gastroesophageal reflux, 5,27 medication status (use of immunosuppressants, 3,5 antipsychotic drugs, 5,6 proton pump inhibitors, 5,6,27 histamine H2‐blockers, 27 angiotensin‐converting enzyme inhibitors, 6 and sleeping pills 4 ), in addition to those mentioned above; however, not all of these factors have been considered. The second limitation is the evaluation method.…”

“…In this study, we adjusted for the effect of seven covariates: age, sex, co-morbidities, nutritional status, swallowing function, food texture level, and facility. Co-morbidities, 5,6 nutritional status, 5,6 swallowing function, 3 and food texture level 16 were selected based on previous reports demonstrating the association with AP. We estimated the propensity score 17 using a logistic regression model adjusted for the seven variables with AP onset as the outcome.…”

“…Because it has been previously reported that approximately 70% of the older patients (aged ≥ 65 years) hospitalized for pneumonia are diagnosed with aspiration pneumonia (AP), 2 AP likely accounts for the majority of pneumonia cases in older adults. AP is reported to be associated with various risk factors such as dysphagia, 3 dementia, 4 poor oral health, 5,6 diabetes, 5,6 and malnutrition; 5,6 therefore, the issues to be considered for the prevention of AP are varied and complex. However, given that aspiration frequently occurs while eating, it may be possible to detect signs of AP development during mealtime observation.…”