Abstract P820: Fast Prediction of the Dysphagia Severity Using Clinical Signs in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare the clinical signs in patients with acute ischemic stroke(AIS) and identify which of them was associated with the severity of dysphagia. Methods: This was a prospective observational study enrolled AIS within 14 onset days. All patients had swallowing evaluations by the modified Volume Viscosity Swallowing Test (the modified V-VST). Five clinical signs suggestive of swallow function impaired were directly observed in the patients who failed the test. We compared the performance of clinical signs between different completing volumes at three viscosity series. The area under curves (AUCs) were made to show the ability of specific clinical signs in predicting the dysphagia severity in patients with AIS. Results: 184 hospital-based AIS patients who failed the modified V-VST were enrolled from June 2017 to December 2019. 123 patients were identified as moderate swallow function impaired and 61 patients were identified as serious. Larynx movement and tongue movement were significant different clinical signs at all of three viscosities (p≤0.001). The AUC of larynx movement in predicting severity of dysphagia was 0.733( 95% CI 0.658-0.808,P<0.001). Conclusions: Larynx movement and tongue movement were easy clinical signs for medical staffs to assess the dysphagia severity quickly. Additionally, larynx movement showed stronger ability to predict the severity of dysphagia in AIS patients.