Prospective Investigation of Incidence and Co-Occurrence of Dysphagia, Dysarthria, and Aphasia Following Ischemic Stroke

Purpose: The high incidence of swallowing and communication disorders following stroke is well documented. However, many of these studies have used retrospective chart reviews to make estimates of incidence and co-occurrence. The current study prospectively examined the incidence and co-occurrence of dysphagia, dysarthria, and aphasia following a 1st occurrence of ischemic stroke at an academic medical center hospital. Method: One hundred patients who experienced their 1st ischemic stroke were recruited for participation in this study. All participants received a clinical swallowing evaluation to assess for dysphagia, administration of the Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment-Second Edition (Enderby & Palmer, 2008) and Western Aphasia Battery-Revised (Kertesz, 2006) to screen for the presence of dysarthria and aphasia, respectively. Results: Incidence rates of dysphagia, dysarthria, and aphasia were 32%, 26%, and 16%, respectively. Forty-seven percent of participants had at least 1 of these disorders, 28% had 2 of these disorders, and 4% had all 3. Although the incidence rates in this study were smaller in magnitude than incidence rates in previous research, the pattern of results is broadly similar (i.e., dysphagia had the highest incidence rate, followed by dysarthria and, lastly, aphasia). Conclusions: This prospective study yielded slightly lower incidence rates than have been previously obtained from retrospective chart reviews. The high incidence and co-occurrence of devastating swallowing and communication disorders post-ischemic stroke provides clear motivation for speech-language pathology involvement in the early phase of stroke rehabilitation.