PURPOSE: to evaluate efficacy of speech therapy treatments and the interference of risk factors in adult patients admitted to the wards with neurological diseases and symptoms of dysphagia, using the functional oral intake scale as parameter of safe progression for oral feeding. METHODS: We carried out a retrospective study on forty-nine patients with neurogenic dysphagia under speech therapy sessions while in the wards and a comparison between the results of the functional oral intake scale before and after the therapy sessions(measuring the amount and type of orally-taken food in a safe manner by the patients). Possible factors affecting the therapy such as etiology of the neurologic disease, age, respiratory and clinical conditions, alertness, time and duration of the therapy sessions were studied. RESULTS: over the 49 studied patients, 36 showed improvement in the FOIS after speech therapy sessions. Regarding possible factors affecting the therapy, statistical analysis showed that deterioration of clinical condition, clinical intercurrences and decreased level of alertness were significant factors for the lack of progress to oral feeding during the speech therapy sessions. The other factors, etiology of disease, age, respiratory condition, time and number of sessions, did not demonstrate statistical significance. However, they did not interfere in improving or worsening the patients' clinical condition. CONCLUSION: there is an effective improvement in feeding by oral intake in patients with neurogenic dysphagia being treated by speech therapy sessions in the hospital wards. However, it cannot be achieved if the patient shows clinical intercurrences and decreased alertness level.
Deglutition Disorders; Feeding; Speech Therapy
