Screening for Aspiration Risk Associated With Dysphagia in Acute Stroke
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
Boaden, E., Burnell, J., et al. (2021).
The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 10, CD012679.
This systematic review investigates the diagnostic accuracy and sensitivity and specificity of bedside screening tests provided by nursing staff or other healthcare professionals (excluding speech-language pathologists) to detect risk of aspiration associated with dysphagia in adults with acute stroke.
The Cochrane Collaboration
up to December 2019
Single-gate or two-gate studies comparing any bedside screening tool to instrumental or expert assessment
25
No single beside screening tool demonstrated 100% sensitivity and specificity. Sensitivity and specificity for index tests using water only ranged from 46% to 100% and from 43% to 100%, respectively and index tests using water and other consistencies ranged from 75% to 100% and from 69% to 90%, respectively. All other screening methods had mixed results (29% to 100% sensitivity and 39% to 86% specificity). Therefore, the authors conclude that there is insufficient evidence regarding the accuracy of bedside swallow screening tools delivered by healthcare professionals other than speech-language pathologists to identify aspiration associated with dysphagia in the acute stage of stroke.
