Examining the Use of Pill Swallowing in Dysphagia Assessment: A Survey of Common Practices.
Meg Wood, Mary Gorham-Rowan, Ruth Renee Hannibal and 2 others
PMID 40471408WHAT IT FOUND
Most SLPs sometimes assess pill swallowing during VFSS, but few do it routinely or include it in their protocols.
Many recommend medication changes without testing pill swallowing, and only half consult other team members when they do.
Key findings
01Only 28% of surveyed SLPs routinely assess pill swallowing during VFSS, while 62% do so sometimes and 10% never do.
02Despite assessing pill swallowing, 65% of SLPs report it is not part of their established VFSS protocol.
03A significant number of SLPs make medication administration recommendations without assessing pill swallowing, with 33% doing so often and 52% sometimes.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study relies on self-reported practices, which may not reflect actual clinical behavior. The survey did not investigate the reasoning behind why SLPs assess or do not assess pill swallowing. Participants were allowed to skip questions, leading to varying response numbers for different items. The study only examined practices during VFSS, not other instrumental assessments like FEES. The sample was recruited from professional networks and social media, which may bias responses toward SLPs with specific interests in dysphagia.
Declared interests
The authors obtained approval from the Valdosta State University Institutional Review Board. Consent was obtained from ASHA and the forum administrator. No specific funding sources or commercial conflicts of interest are detailed in the provided text beyond these procedural approvals.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high rate of 'sometimes' assessing pill swallowing as evidence of standardized care. The data shows that for most SLPs, this assessment is ad hoc and often excluded from formal protocols, meaning its quality and consistency vary significantly between clinics.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →