Effect of Oral Apraxia on Dysphagia in Patients with Subacute Stroke

AbstractAim of this study was to investigate the effect of post-stroke oral apraxia on dysphagia in patients with subacute stroke. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 130 supratentorial stroke patients from January 2015 to February 2021 who underwent a formal limb and oral apraxia test and videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS), and we compared the patients in two groups: the apraxia and non-apraxia (oral apraxia score  >  45 and ≤ 45 points, respectively). All the patients participated in the standardized testing battery. The test variables were videofluoroscopic dysphagia scale (VDS), oral transit time (OTT), pharyngeal delay time (PDT), pharyngeal transit time, and penetration-aspiration scale (PAS); we co nducted multivariable regression analysis with those parameters to confirm the significance of oral apraxia as a clinical determinant of post-stroke dysphagia. The mean oral apraxia scores were 38.4 and 47.6 points in the apraxia and non-apraxia groups, respectively (p <  0.001). The apraxia group had a higher proportion of delayed OTT for the 2-mL-thick liquid than the non-apraxia group (17.6% and 4.2%, respectively;p = 0.011). Oral apraxia was a significant determinant of VDS (p <  0.001), delayed OTT of 2-mL-thick liquids (p = 0.028), delayed PDT of cup drinking for thin liquid (p = 0.044), and PAS scores (p = 0.003). The presence of oral apraxia was significantly associated with dysphagia, especially with the...
Source: Dysphagia - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research