Correlation between Dysarthria and Aspiration in Patients with Stroke / 대한연하장애학회지

Objective@#This study examined the correlation between dysarthria and aspiration to determine if dysarthria can predict aspiration in stroke patients. @*Methods@#The medical records of 176 patients with first stroke, who underwent a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and Urimal test of articulation and phonology (U-TAP) at the same time between January 2012 and December 2015 in the authors’ hospital, were reviewed retrospectively. The correlation between the penetration aspiration scale (PAS) score and U-TAP score was analyzed in all patients. The mean PAS score and frequency of each PAS score in the dysarthria group and non-dysarthria group were compared. In addition, the aspiration was analyzed based on the severity of dysarthria in the dysphagia group. All statistical analyses were performed using SPSS software. @*Results@#The correlation between the PAS score and U-TAP score was not statistically significant in all the subjects.The mean PAS score was 3.46±5.52 and 3.07±5.49 in the dysphagia and non-dysphagia group, respectively. The mean PAS score of the dysphagia group was higher than that of the non-dysphagia group. On the other hand, it was not statistically significant. In addition, there was no significant difference in the frequency of the PAS scores between the two groups. The aspiration was compared with the severity of dysarthria according to the U-TAP score; there was no statistically significant difference. @*Conclusion@#No correlation was observed between dysarthria and aspiration in stroke patients. In addition, there was no difference in the frequency of aspiration with or without dysarthria. According to the results of this study, aspiration cannot be predicted by dysarthria in stroke patients. Therefore, each diagnostic test and assessment should be performed for each symptom.

Comparison of Functions, Activity of Daily Living, and Quality of Life according to Hand Dominance in Stroke

OBJECTIVE: We investigated the differences of functions, activity of daily living (ADL), and quality of life (QoL) according to hand dominance in hemiplegic stroke patients. METHOD: The participants were diagnosed as stroke at P hospital. 370 participants (356 right dominant hand, 14 left dominant hand) were right hemisphere stroke, and 258 participants (248 right dominant hand, 10 left dominant hand) were left hemisphere stroke. To compensate the differences of imbalance in the number of participants' hand dominance, we performed the propensity score matching analysis. We analyzed the variation of stroke severity, disability, motor, mobility, cognition and language functions from 7 days until 3 months after onset using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA). Then, we performed independent t-test to compare hand dexterity, ADL, mood, subjective health condition and QoL of participants according to the hand dominance and the affected hemisphere. RESULTS: All groups showed increased functions during 3 months without statistically significant differences according to hand dominance in both right and left hemisphere stroke patients. In addition, ADL, mood, subjective health condition and QoL were also not significantly different depending on hand dominance in the right and left hemisphere. CONCLUSION: The difference of hand dominance did not influence stroke severity, disability, motor, mobility, cognition or language functions. It also didn't correlate with ADLs, mood or QoL.