Prevalence of Dysphagia Symptoms in the General Population of Cyprus.

Abstract

Dysphagia is commonly linked to advanced age and coexisting health conditions, but population-level data, especially for younger adults, are limited. This study sought to determine the prevalence of dysphagia symptoms in the general population of Cyprus and examine how it varies across demographic and clinical groups. A large-scale survey was carried out among adult permanent residents of Cyprus aged 18 years and older. Dysphagia symptoms were evaluated using the Eating Assessment Tool-10 (EAT-10). In the primary analysis of 1,163 participants, 18.3% scored ≥ 3 on the EAT-10, indicating a substantial prevalence of dysphagia symptoms in the adult population, with age and health status emerging as the primary associated factors. The association between age and dysphagia risk was non-linear, with higher prevalence observed in both older adults (≥ 65 years) and younger adults (18-25 years). Given the unexpectedly high prevalence of dysphagia in the 18-25 age group, a supplementary analysis was conducted in a cohort of 199 young adults recruited from the student population of the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). The findings were consistent with those of the primary analysis, showing no meaningful differences in EAT-10 scores between subgroups. Overall, dysphagia symptoms are common among young adults in the Cypriot population and are not confined to older individuals. These findings suggest that swallowing-related symptoms may arise from diverse underlying mechanisms and etiologies (e.g., reflux, pill-swallowing difficulties, etc.) across age groups. As the EAT-10 is a symptom-based screening tool that does not distinguish between underlying causes, the reported dysphagia symptom-based prevalence may be inflated, highlighting the need for more comprehensive assessment approaches to improve etiological differentiation and clinical identification of swallowing disorders.