The 2-Minute Spontaneous Swallowing Screening Predicts Independence on Enteral Feeding in Patients with Acute Stroke.

Background: It is recommended that enteral feeding should be offered to patients with dysphagia estimated to be unable to take adequate diet orally within 7 days of admission after acute stroke, but there is no clear criterion for initiation of enteral feeding. Recent studies have reported that the frequency of spontaneous swallowing is useful in screening for dysphagia in acute stroke. The present study was aimed to investigate whether measurement of frequency of spontaneous swallowing for 2 minutes could predict independence on enteral feeding 1 week after admission in patients with acute stroke.

Methods: Patients with acute stroke were subjected. Within 72 hours of stroke onset, the number of swallows for 2 minutes was measured by auscultation. Subsequently, 1-hour frequency of spontaneous swallowing was measured using a laryngeal microphone. Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) was evaluated 1 week after admission.

Results: Twenty-six out of 40 patients were independent on enteral feeding 1 week after admission based on FOIS. The presence of spontaneous swallowing for 2 minutes had .89 sensitivity, .54 specificity to predict independence on enteral feeding 1 week after admission, whereas the 1-hour frequency of spontaneous swallowing had 1.00 sensitivity, .46 specificity. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of spontaneous swallowing for 2 minutes was independent predictor for independence on enteral feeding 1 week after admission, independently of age, sex, and NIHSS.

Conclusions: The 2-minute spontaneous swallowing screening predicts independence on enteral feeding 1 week after admission in patients with acute stroke.