Prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in patients related with cerebrovascular disease at a neurorehabilitation unit

Abstract Introduction The oropharyngeal dysphagia is a frequently present side effect amongst cerebrovascular pathology, being quite relevant due to the possible respiratory and/or nutritional side effects. Objective To know the prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia in hospitalized-stroke patients within a neurorehabilitation unit. Method A cross-sectional study was designed whose target population was patients diagnosed of cerebrovascular pathology hospitalized in the neurorehabilitation unit within a mid/long term stay hospital in Madrid, Spain, from April 1st 2012 until January 31st 2015. Social-demographical and clinical variables have been chosen by checking the clinical records from the patients included. Results During the period time of the study 124 patients were admitted in the unit, amongst those 88 were male. A big part of the patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia were admitted with a diagnosis of focal-ischaemic stroke, 43.1% (n = 58), and 39.7% (n = 49) with intracerebral haemorrhagic stroke. It was also verified that 79.3% (n = 46) of the patients diagnosed with dysphagia presented a total dependency, 17.3% (n = 10) severe helplessness and 3.4% (n = 2) moderate dependence in daily activities. Conclusion Dysphagia has a high prevalence within our unit and it is related to the degree of patient dependence related to life actions and, being recommended the use of the Volume–Viscosity Swallow Test when dealing with patients with stroke in order to identify early diagnosis.