EARLY EVALUATION OF DEGLUTITION IN PEOPLE WITH STROKE

Abstract

Objective: Identify the dysphagia degree in people affected by a stroke. Method: A quantitative, descriptive, cross-sectional study dev eloped at a medical service at the Algarve University Hospital during a period of 10 weeks, from October to December 2017, involving 20 people with stroke. The instruments used were the Glasgow Comas scales and Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS), always applied by the same nurse. A descriptive analysis was used. Results: From the evaluation with the GUSS Scale, 50.0% of the patients had absent dysphagia with minimal risk of aspiration, 10.0% presented slight dysphagia with low aspiration risk and the rest showed moderate and severe dysphagia, with a higher risk of aspiration. Conclusions: The intervention of the Rehabilitation nurse proved to be a determinant factor in the early diagnosis of swallowing and, therefore, in the prevention of complications associated with dysphagia, in order to promote swallowing in safety. Key words: Stroke; rehabilitation nursing; swallowing disorders.