J Korean Dysphagia Soc.  2014 Jan;4(1):23-27.

Correlation between Respiratory Function and Dysphagia in Stroke Patients

• Yang HE
• Park YG
• Kim SM

Abstract

Objective
Dysphagia is a very common complication of stroke and is can be a marker of poor prognosis. In addition altered respiratory function is also observed in stroke patients. The purposes of this study are to find out correlations between dysphagia and respiratory function, and if specific parameter of respiratory function can screen patients at high risk of aspiration. Method: 37 adult stroke patients were enrolled (18 in aspirated group, 19 in non-aspirated group). All patients underwent video fluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) and pulmonary function test (PFT) including forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume at one second (FEV1), and peak cough flow (PCF). Diaphragmatic motion during breathing was measured through fluoroscope and end-tidal CO2 (EtCO2) was measured on resting state. Patients were separated into two groups in term of aspiration on VFSS. Result: The FVC of aspirated group (48.5±14.1%) was significantly lower than that of non-aspirated group (57.2±9.95%) (P=0.036). The FEV1 of aspirated group (43.3±15.3%) was also significantly lower than that of non-aspirated group (53.8±15.6%) (P=0.047). Other parameters and patient characteristics did not show significant differences.
Conclusion
FVC is considered an important factor to expect aspiration on swallowing in stroke patients. So PFT including FVC and FEV1 could be a useful method to screen stroke patients at high risk of aspiration.

Keyword

Stroke; Dysphagia; Pulmonary function test