Abstract
We investigated the effectiveness of feeding and swallowing therapy in 45 patients with dysphagia and reported the factors related to effectiveness. To study the factors, the patients were examined with respect to sex, age, period from onset to beginning of the therapy, therapy period and physical conditions. Logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the correlation between the therapeutic effectiveness and these items.
In the 45 dysphagia cases, no improvement of swallowing function was found in 12 cases (26.7%), moderate improvement in 21 cases (46.7%) and good improvement in 12 cases (26.7%). The only factor related to the effectiveness of the therapy was level of dry swallowing (p = 0.005, odds ratio: 6.445). These results indicate that introducing feeding and swallowing therapy, before dry swallowing is lost, is effective for improving swallowing function in patients with dysphagia.
