TY  - JOUR
AU  - Smithard, David
AU  - Westmark, Signe
AU  - Melgaard, Dorte
PY  - 2019
DA  - 2019/11/15
TI  - Evaluation of the Prevalence of Screening for Dysphagia among Older People Admitted to Medical Services – An International Survey
JO  - OBM Geriatrics
SP  - 086
VL  - 03
IS  - 04
AB  - Background: As the world’s population ages, so the number of old and frail people increases. Respiratory disease is a common reason for hospital admission for older people. Aspiration of saliva, which is probably infected, is the likely etiological agent. The presence of an abnormal swallow has been found to be high in frail older people. Despite the high incidence of swallow problems amongst older people, many hospital services do not routinely screen older people for dysphagia.
Methods: A survey, using Research Electronic Database Capture (REDCap), was emailed to contacts working in hospital. They were asked ; 1) type of medical services, 2) does your service screen older (>80 years) people for swallowing problems, 3) are nursing staff and medical staff trained to administer a swallow screen, 4) is a swallowing rehabilitation program offered to older people, and 5) which elements of a rehabilitation programme are offered and used.
Results: 150 people with consent from 29 countries responded the survey. 75% work in an acute hospital, 15% in rehab, and 10% in community. 62% responded that they do not or only occasionally screen older people for swallowing difficulties. 50% of the medical staff and 27% of the nursing staff were not trained to administer a swallowing screen. 63% offered a rehabilitation swallowing program with chin tuck against resistance (83%), tongue strengthening (87%), and shaker manoeuvre (79%) being more common than electric stimulation (21%).
Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that many health facilities are not routinely screening older people for swallowing problems, and the majority do not train their staff. The majority of facilities were offering a rehabilitation programme. In addition, it is likely that many people are not receiving appropriate proactive intervention because swallowing problems are not being proactively sought.
SN  - 2638-1311
UR  - https://doi.org/10.21926/obm.geriatr.1904086
DO  - 10.21926/obm.geriatr.1904086
ID  - Smithard2019
ER  -