Dysphagia severity by side of lesion for acute stroke patients

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This purpose of this study was to investigate the difference in dysphagia of stroke patients based on side of lesion. 164 stroke patients referred to our department from August to November 2017. 134 patients underwent bedside swallowing assessment; BSA. Out of 110 (right lesion (R): 46, left lesion (L): 64) unilateral supratentorial stroke patients,patients (R: 18, L: 26) with dysphagia were recruited. Median age was 79 years. The mean time from hospital admission to BSA was 4 days. 44. BSA used Repetitive saliva swallowing test, Modified water swallowing test, and 30 ml water swallowing test. Dysphagia severity was evaluated by Dysphagia Severity Scale; DSS. The following data was collected through the database: Stroke Impairment Assessment Set; SIAS (Items of Affected-side Motor Function), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; NIHSS, Functional Independence Measure; FIM. Statistical analyses were considered significant with P < 0.05. The average of initial SIAS score was R12/L9, and final was R14/L11. The average of initial NIHSS score was R12/L15, and final was R11/L14. The average of initial FIM score was R22/L24, and final was R58/L50. Approximately 5, 28, 28, 39, and 0% of patients with R, and 11, 31, 31, 23, and 4% of patients with L had pre-treatment DSS of 1 (Saliva aspiration), 2 (Food aspiration), 3 (Water aspiration),4 (Occasional aspiration), 5 (oral problems), respectively. Post-treatment, 17, 22, 11, 17, 0, 11, and 22% of patients with R, and 4,23,8,15,4,15,and 31% with L had DSS of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (Minimum problem), 7 (Normal). Approximately 61% patients with R and 69% patients with L relied on oral intake post-treatment. There were not significant differences in dysphagia severity between patients with R and L. Future studies are necessary with large sample size to examine the difference for distribution of dysphagia severity scale.