There is much concern about the acute phase of restarting an oral diet for hospital inpatients who have been prohibited from any oral intake. We found predictive factors for the successful resumption of oral intake in such patients. A total of 186 subjects who had been hospitalized without oral intake were screened for dysphagia between January 1st and December 31st in 2010 (mean age 80.9 years), and formed the study population. We observed them from the initial consultation day until the discharge. (mean days 32.6) We examined factors of age, sex, appetite, gag reflex, tongue activity, the repetitive saliva swallowing test (RSST), obeying commands, the status of the laryngopharynx, laryngeal sensation and the 3 ml water swallowing test under endoscopy. We excluded those who died in hospital after dysphagia screening because they were obviously lost to follow-up. One hundred and twelve patients (60.2%) could resume oral intake, 54 patients could not and 20 (10.8%) died. Logistic regression analysis identified seven significant factors in predicting the resumption of oral intake : 1) age (p = 0.01, OR = 0.938, 95% CI 0.903-0.976); 2) sex (p = 0.21, OR = 2.15, 95% CI 1.124-4.128); 3) appetite (p = 0.041, OR = 1.983, 95% CI 1.029-3.821); 4) gag reflex (p = 0.06, OR = 1.932, 95% CI 0.971-3.844); 5) tongue activity (P = 0.002, OR = 3.825, 95% CI 1.647-8.883); 6) RSST (P = 0.013, OR = 2.284, 95% CI 1.186-4.397); 7) obeying commands (p = 0.02, OR = 3.005, 95% CI 1.507-5.993); 8) the status of the laryngopharynx (P = 0.668, OR = 0.668, 95% CI 0.351-1.272); 9) laryngeal sensation (P = 0.081, OR = 1.841, 95% CI 0.928-3.650); and the 3 ml water swallowing test under endoscopy (P = 0.000, OR = 0.226, 95% CI 0.102-0.499). These predictive factors could be very useful for dysphagia screening to help forecast the successful resumption of oral intake in affected patients. When the likelihood of dysphagia and the onset of aspiration pneumonia are suggested by dysphagia screening, these factors must be taken into careful consideration when oral intake is to be resumed.