Dysphagia is a risk factor of malnutrition in X-linked Dystonia-Parkinsonism.

Introduction: Malnutrition is a leading cause of death for persons living with X-linked dystonia-parkinsonism (XDP), a degenerative disease endemic to the Philippines. Difficulty swallowing has been linked to malnutrition in other populations; however, knowledge of this relationship is limited in XDP. As such, the purpose of this study was to determine the association between dysphagia and malnutrition in this population.

Methods: 21 individuals with XDP, 26 controls, and 18 genetic carriers were included in the final data analysis. Spearman's rank order correlation coefficient was used to determine an association between baseline EAT-10 total scores and 12-month malnutrition status, and multiple linear regression to evaluate the predictive ability of the EAT-10. A baseline EAT-10 score cut-off point predicting 12-month malnutrition status was estimated.

Results: For the XDP group, the baseline EAT-10 total scores had a significant negative correlation ( = -0.68,  < 0.001) with and was a significant predictor ( = 0.001) of 12-month BMI. A baseline EAT-10 total score of ≥ 4 predicted malnutrition twelve months after administration (sensitivity = 0.93; specificity = 1; AUC = 0.95).

Discussion: Dysphagia, as measured using the EAT-10, was associated with BMI in the XDP population. Additionally, an EAT-10 total score ≥ 4 could predict malnutrition in twelve months after test administration. With these findings, healthcare providers could identify patients with XDP at high risk for malnutrition earlier and provide intervention sooner.