2014 Volume 15 Issue 1 Pages 30-34
Elderly patients with proximal femoral fractures are generally considered to have a greater risk for developing aspiration pneumonia. Therefore the assessment of swallowing function of these patients has been more important. We evaluated retrospectively the clinical usefulness of our original screening chart that we have developed for detecting dysphagia with 92% sensitivity and 68% specificity. A total of sixty-three patients over the age of 60 years who had fresh proximal femoral fractures between October 2012 and December 2012 were included. Of the 63 patients enrolled, 33 underwent assessment of swallowing function. Nurses in charge made an assessment of swallowing function by use of the chart immediately after admission and 19 of 33 patients (57.6%) were classified as having the potential for dysphagia. Subsequently 14 patients (42.4%) had a definite diagnosis by speech-language-therapist. During this period, aspiration pneumonia had occurred in three patients. The results of this current study are highly suggestive that our screening chart would be valuable for early detection of dysphagia. However, when considering the presence of aspiration pneumonia even after introduction of screening, further investigation will be necessary to make the chart more accurate in the diagnosis of dysphagia.
