Timed Test of Swallowing in Six Month Post Stroke Individuals

Abstract

The swallowing problems after acute stroke are often temporary but sometimes leads to various complications such as aspiration pneumonia, dehydration and death. Though these individuals recover from swallowing disorder as assessed subjectively and objectively, it is not known if they have recovered completely. Hence the present study was attempted at identifying any swallowing problems in six month post stroke individuals, using timed test of swallowing. The study followed the Prospective case control design. All the participants in both the clinical and the control group were asked to drink 150 ml of water from a plastic beaker ‘as quickly as possible’. The number of swallows performed by the participants was counted by observing the movement of the thyroid notch. A stopwatch was started when the water first touched the lower lip, and stopped when the larynx came to rest, ensuring the last swallow. Timed test of swallow includes quantitative elements i.e., the volume swallowed, the number of swallows used and the time taken, which yields three quantitative indices, which are average volume per swallow (ml), average time per swallow (s) and swallowing capacity (volume swallowed in ml/ s) in both the group of participants. The results revealed a significant difference between the means for both the group of participants, at p <0.05 for all the three indices of timed test of swallowing, suggesting that the clinical group exhibited lower volume per swallow, increased time per swallow and a lower swallowing capacity in each swallow than control group. The obtained results were discussed with respect to the stroke and its effect on swallowing. Hence, the timed test of swallow can be used as a clinical tool for identifying swallowing problems in post stroke individuals.