Pre-hospitalization dysphagia and its relation with hospital length of stay

Abstract

Purpose: Motivated by the reports of difficulties in feeding experienced by patients before neurological impairment, this study sought to investigate whether the previous complaint of dysphagia of patients admitted to the stroke unit at Hospital Universitário Maria Aparecida Pedrossian - UFMS impacted the increase in hospital length of stay when compared to patients without a history and complaints of dysphagia before hospitalization. Methods: This regards an observational, prospective, longitudinal, quantitative and qualitative field research. The sample included adult patients of both sexes, over 18 years old with or without complaints of dysphagia, who responded to the screening where data were collected indicating the presence or not of dysphagia before hospitalization. After speech therapy evaluation and establishment of the FOIS scale, patients were followed up until the moment of hospital discharge. Results: Oropharyngeal dysphagia (DOF) was identified in 80% of the patients evaluated in this study. There was a significant association between not having a DOF and the absence of a previous complaint, as well as not having a DOF and an initial NIHSS score of less than 10 points. There was no association between length of hospital stay and the presence or absence of a previous DOF complaint. Conclusion: It is concluded that the investigation of the previous complaint of dysphagia in patients affected by Stroke can provide guiding data to support the speech therapist during the functional evaluation of swallowing, however, in isolation, it does not demonstrate a statistically significant relationship between presenting a previous complaint and the length of hospital stay.