Dysphagia Assessment at a Distance

Abstract

W hen a patient is in danger of developing oropharyngeal dysphagia, that patient's life may hang in the balance. Immediate assessment is necessary, but difficult In remote or underserved communities that lack speech-language pathologists with the appropriate swallowing expertise. A similar level of expertise is necessary to complete a clinical bedside exam or to interpret instrumental swallowing studies. Many communities lack SLPs with this expertise—or simply do not have access to videofluoroscopy or videoendoscopy services. SLPs may travel to a client's location to perform an evaluation; extended travel for a patient, however, is expensive, inconvenient, and tiring—which may affect an evaluation's outcome. Because visual imaging is necessary to assess the competency of safe pharyngeal clearing, we sought a way to hridge the expertise gap in remote locations. New telepractice technology permitting real-time, interactive evaluation of swallowing shows promise in allowing remote clinicians to perform dysphagia assessments as accurately as those performed face-toface, according to our recent NIH-funded study.