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Objective: to assess the role of oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) as a risk factor for malnutrition and/or lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI) in the independently-living population of 70 years and over.

Design: a population-based cohort study.

Subjects and setting: persons 70 years and over in the community (non-institutionalised) were randomly selected from primary care databases.

Measurements: the volume-viscosity swallow test (V-VST) was administered by trained physicians at baseline to identify subjects with clinical signs of OD and impaired safety or efficacy of swallow. At the one year follow-up visit, hand grip, functional capacity (Barthel score), nutritional status (mini nutritional assessment, MNA) and LRTI (clinical notes) were assessed.

Results: two hundred and fifty-four subjects were recruited (46.5% female; mean age, 78 years) and 90% of them (227 …