Therapeutic approach to dysphagia in post-COVID patients in a rehabilitation unit: a descriptive longitudinal study.
Anna Guillen-Sola, Cindry Ramírez, Sonia Nieto and 5 others
PMID 38502558WHAT IT FOUND
Post-COVID patients with severe swallowing problems improved significantly after three weeks of therapy.
The treatment mix varied by patient, so the specific benefit of each exercise cannot be separated. Without a control group, natural recovery cannot be ruled out.
Key findings
01Respiratory muscle strength, tongue strength and endurance, and peak cough flow all improved significantly after the three-week intervention.
02Swallowing safety and efficiency scores improved, with the majority of patients achieving resolution of dietary restrictions by discharge.
03All patients received speech and language therapy, but electrical stimulation and respiratory muscle training were only added for specific subsets based on diagnostic findings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
There was no control group, so it is impossible to know if the improvements were due to the specific interventions or simply the passage of time and routine eating. The study was descriptive and did not randomize patients, leading to potential selection bias. Different patients received different combinations of treatments based on their specific deficits, making it difficult to determine which component was most effective. The sample size was relatively small, and the study was conducted in a single center during the pandemic, which may limit generalizability.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that neuromuscular electrical stimulation or respiratory muscle training alone caused the swallowing improvements. All patients received speech and language therapy, and the additional treatments were applied based on specific findings, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.