Introduction and objective:

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a highly prevalent clinical sumptom, characterized by difficulty in swallowing, presenting various etiological factors.Its treatment is carried out in a multidisciplinary manner, including various health sciences professionals. The aim of this study is to know the prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in adult patients.

Method:

A bibliographic search of studies related to the prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in adult patients was carried out. The screening and selection of studies was conducted, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) declaration guideline A statistical analysis of the variables considered relevant for the study was performed.

Results:

A total of 29 studies were selected. The total prevalence of dysphagia was presented with a probability of p = 0.39, within a confidence interval of (95% CI 0.303 – 0.476).

Discussion:

There is an association or correlation between dysphagia and various clinical states or pathologies of the patient. A direct relationship has been found between the prevalence of dysphagia and advanced age.

Conclusions:

Oropharyngeal dysphagia presented with a high prevalence according to the selected studies. Neurological diseases, malnutrition and pneumonia were the main comorbid conditions in patients with dysphagia. The nursing function was absent in most of the studies.

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