The Kuchi‐kara Taberu index as a predictive marker of oral intake recovery in patients with aspiration pneumonia

Aim In recent years, the Kuchi‐kara Taberu (KT) index has been used as a new tool for the evaluation of dysphagia; however, its predictive ability remains unknown. This study was conducted to examine the validity of oral intake recovery prediction using the KT index in patients with aspiration pneumonia. Methods The subjects were older inpatients admitted to an acute‐care hospital for the treatment of aspiration pneumonia. A logistic regression analysis was conducted to clarify factors significantly associated with oral intake recovery. In addition, cut‐off values of the predictors were calculated using a receiver operating characteristic curve analysis with the area under the curve (P