title: Association between neurological injury and the severity of oropharyngeal dysphagia after stroke.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To associate the degree of biomechanical impairment in the swallowing process with the severity (National Institute of Health Stroke Scale - NIHSS) and type of neurological injury in patients post stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted with 42 patients (22 females), aged 65.7 years on average diagnosed with stroke. All patients underwent clinical neurological evaluation and application of the NIHSS in the first 48 hours after stroke. The swallowing function was evaluated using the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS) and the Protocol for the Investigation of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia in Adults. The Fisher's Exact Probability Test was used to assess the correlation between the degree of swallowing impairment and the severity (NIHSS score) and type of stroke. The study results were statistically analyzed at 5% significance level (p≤0.05).
  
  
  RESULTS
  92.9% of the patients presented ischemic stroke; 59.5% presented impairment of the anterior cerebral circulation. Statistically significant correlation was found between the neurological scale (NIHSS) scores and the swallowing impairment scale (p=0.016).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  An association between stroke severity and oropharyngeal dysphagia severity was observed. A high proportion of patients with ischemic stroke with circulation affected in the anterior cerebral region presented severe oropharyngeal dysphagia. No statistically significant correlation was observed between the FOIS scale and stroke severity.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA - Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.
authors.forename: Danielle Martins
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA - Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.|Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre - ISCMPA - Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.
authors.forename: Marlise de Castro
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Ribeiro
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA - Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.|Irmandade Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Porto Alegre - ISCMPA - Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.
authors.forename: Liselotte Menke
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Barea
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Santa Maria - UFSM - Santa Maria (RS), Brazil.
authors.forename: Renata
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mancopes
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Ciências da Saúde de Porto Alegre - UFCSPA - Porto Alegre (RS), Brazil.
authors.forename: Sheila Tamanini de
authors.initials: ST
authors.lastname: Almeida
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003680:Deglutition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000145:classification / Q000150:complications*; D055815:Young Adult