Predictors of recovery from dysphagia after stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Xiaoyan Jin, Shaomei Shang, HoiYee Tong and 3 others
PMID 40241863WHAT IT FOUND
Older age, lower BMI, bilateral stroke, higher NIHSS score, tracheal intubation, and aspiration were unfavorable factors for swallowing recovery after stroke; recovery rose from 13.53% at one week to 95% at six months.
Key findings
01Older age, lower BMI, bilateral stroke, higher NIHSS score, tracheal intubation, and aspiration were unfavorable factors for swallowing recovery.
02Reported swallowing recovery rates increased from 13.53% at one week to 95% at six months after stroke.
03The tracheal intubation finding was less reliable because fixed and random model results differed.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPsWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Most included studies were retrospective, and only six studies used a prospective cohort design. Swallowing recovery was defined differently across studies, including tube removal, oral diet, instrumental assessment, water swallowing test, and Functional Oral Intake Scale. Older age was pooled from six studies, higher NIHSS score from four studies, and lower BMI, bilateral stroke, tracheal intubation, and aspiration from three studies each. Heterogeneity was large for NIHSS score and tracheal intubation. Sensitivity analysis showed poor reliability for the tracheal intubation result. Begg's test suggested possible publication bias for age. Some factors were reported in only one or two studies and could not be meta-analysed.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these odds ratios as proof that older age, low BMI, bilateral stroke, high NIHSS score, intubation, or aspiration directly cause poor swallowing recovery. The evidence comes from cohort, case-control, and prediction model studies with different swallowing outcome definitions, and the tracheal intubation estimate was unstable.