Dysphagia Screening and Hospital-acquired Pneumonia in Patients with Acute Ischemic Stroke: Findings from Get with the Guidelines–Stroke

Conclusions: HAP occurs in 1 of 17 hospitalized stroke patients and is associated with a greater than 5-fold increase in mortality. DS did not occur in 31.1% of eligible patients, with increased screening among those with more severe strokes and those who developed HAP. The attenuation of the relationship between DS and HAP risk when controlling for NIHSS score suggests the association between screening and pneumonia is confounded by severity. Controlled trials are needed to determine DS effectiveness.

Source: Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Diseases - January 9, 2013 Category: Neurology Authors: Shihab Masrur, Eric E. Smith, Jeffrey L. Saver, Mathew J. Reeves, Deepak L. Bhatt, Xin Zhao, DaiWai Olson, Wenqin Pan, Adrian F. Hernandez, Gregg C. Fonarow, Lee H. Schwamm Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research