Nutrición Hospitalaria (Oct 2009)
Utilidad de implantar un programa de atención a la disfagia en un Hospital de Media y Larga Estancia Usefulness of implementing a dysphagia care programme at an intermediate and long stay hospital
Abstract
Objetivos: Describir en un Hospital de Media y Larga Estancia (HMLE) los resultados iniciales tras la implantación de un programa de valoración e intervención sobre la disfagia y conocer que variables mostraban diferencias significativas entre los enfermos con y sin disfagia así detectados. Métodos: Estudio descriptivo retrospectivo de la valoración realizada a los pacientes con sospecha de disfagia y de la intervención posterior en los que esta se confirmó. Se usó para dicha valoración un método clínico estandarizado que utiliza diferentes viscosidades y volúmenes. Tras su confirmación se llevaron a cabo cuidados dietéticos, posturales y formativos. Se recogieron variables demográficas, clínicas y de laboratorio. Resultados: Se incluyó a 146 pacientes, describiéndose sus correspondientes valoraciones y las intervenciones en los 110 que presentaron disfagia. Esto representó una prevalencia de disfagia del 14,8% de los pacientes ingresados. En el análisis univariante entre los pacientes con y sin disfagia, los primeros presentan al ingreso mayor presencia de sonda de alimentación (p 0,011) y menor proporción de deterioro cognitivo leve (p 0,048); y al alta menor recuperación funcional (p Objectives: To describe the initial results of the implementation of a dysphagia assessment and intervention programme and to know which variables showed significant differences between patients with and without dysphagia detected by this way at an intermediate and long stay hospital. Methods: Descriptive and retrospective study on the assessment performed to patients suspected of having dysphagia and of the subsequent intervention done on those in whom it was confirmed. A standardized clinical method using different viscosities and volumes was used. After confirming the condition, different dietary, postural, and educational cares were undertaken. Demographical, clinical, and analytical variables were registered. Results: 146 patients were included, 110 of them presenting dysphagia of whom the corresponding assessments and interventions were described. This represented a dysphagia prevalence of 14.8% among all admitted patients. The univariate analysis between patients with and without dysphagia showed that the former presented at the time of admission a higher prevalence of a feeding tube (p = 0.011) and a lower proportion of mild cognitive impairment (p = 0.048); and at the time of hospital discharge, lower functional recovery (p < 0.01) and higher presence of a feeding tube (p = 0.028), hyponutrition(p < 0,01), and mortality (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Given its frequent presentation and important clinical repercussion, and in order to improve health care quality at ILSH, the implementation of a dysphagia care programme is advisable. The dysphagia detected was correlated with the presence of a feeding tube and had clear implications on the clinical course at a functional and nutritional level and vital prognosis.