2014 Volume 18 Issue 3 Pages 229-238
Stroke is a major etiological factor in dysphagia. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors affecting difficulty of oral intake in patients with cerebrovascular disorders.
Two hundred and fourteen stroke patients with stroke-related dysphagia who entered an emergency hospital between March 2009 and March 2010 were recruited. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify variables significantly associated with the possibility of oral intake.
The mean age of the patients was 75.4 (SD 12.4) years. A total of 93 patients suffered from ischemic stroke while 34 suffered from hemorrhagic stroke. At the point of discharge from the hospital, 85 patients (66.9%) resumed a regular diet. Logistic regression analysis identified four factors that significantly predicted the resumption of oral intake: a lesion limited in the right hemisphere; a score＞0 on the Barthel Index; normal swallowing sound in cervical auscultation; a profile score of 4 or above in the food test. The sensitivity and specificity of the forecast type that attained oral intake were 84.7% and 66.7%, respectively. The probability of attaining oral intake was 99.8% when all five factors were excellent values, but was 31.9% when all five factors were disadvantageous.
These findings suggest that for patients with stroke-related dysphagia, the feeding tube should be removed and oral intake attained before discharge.
