Usefulness of oral care and dysphagia rehabilitation in acute stroke patients

Abstract

Objective: Oral care and dysphagia rehabilitation are useful in stroke patients. In our hospital, we provide oral care and dysphagia rehabilitation from the acute stage of stroke in the clinical path. We investigated preventive effect of aspiration pneumonia and predictive factors for resumption of oral intake at discharge. Subjects and Methods: We examined factors of age, sex, severity of stroke (NIHSS, mRS), ADL index (FIM), propriety of oral intake, the number of remaining teeth, oral hygiene, tongue activity on admission and at discharge in 324 acute stroke patients between January 1 and December 31 in 2012. Preventive effect of post-stroke pneumonia and predictive factors for resumption of oral intake at discharge were investigated statistically. Results: Male 181 patients, female 143 patients, mean age 70.1±13.6 years-old. 262 patients (80.9%) were with resumption of oral intake at discharge, and 62 patients (19.1%) were with difficulty of oral intake. The incidence of post-stroke pneumonia is 10.2% in all patients, 7.6% in patients with resumption of oral intake, 21.0% in patients with difficulty of oral intake. Logistic regression analysis identified tongue activity on admission predicts the resumption of oral intake (p<0.01). Conclusion: Oral care and dysphagia rehabilitation from the acute stage of stroke reduce the incidence of post-stroke pneumonia. Tongue activity on admission predicts the resumption of oral intake at discharge.