title: Intervention by Speech Therapists to Promote Oral Intake of Patients with Acute Stroke: A Retrospective Cohort Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Early rehabilitation for acute stroke patients is widely recommended. We tested the hypothesis that daily intervention by speech therapists promotes safe oral intake of patients with acute stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analyzed hospitalized patients who experienced cerebral infarction and cerebral hemorrhage and who underwent rehabilitation between October 2010 and September 2014 at our hospital. In total, 936 patients were analyzed, and 452 patients underwent daily speech therapy. We examined the association of training frequency and eating status.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Multiple linear regression analysis indicated that daily speech therapy was correlated significantly and positively with a reduction in the number of days of hospitalization until oral intake commenced (coefficient, -.998; 95% confidence interval, -1.793 to -.202; P < .05), and was not correlated with the cessation of oral intake due to aspiration pneumonia after resuming oral intake.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our retrospective cohort study demonstrated that daily intervention by speech therapists in patients with acute stroke shortens the number of days until oral intake without increasing the incidence of aspiration pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan. Electronic address: supertomokohime@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Tomoko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakazora
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Junko
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maeda
authors.affiliation: Division of Rehabilitation Medicine, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan; Division of Neurology, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Konosuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Sayori
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hanashiro
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshikazu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.affiliation: Division of Neurology, Mishuku Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tetsuhito
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kiyozuka
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhisa
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Domen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015331:Cohort Studies; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D011015:Pneumonia, Aspiration / Q000209:etiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D013070:Speech Therapy; D020521:Stroke / Q000150:complications*; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation
keywords: Acute stroke; daily; dysphagia; speech therapist