The Safety of Food and Drink Consistencies Based on a Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing Study Results in Stroke Patients with Dysphagia

Objective: Knowing such dysphagic stroke patients’ ability to swallow various food consistencies from instrumental investigations will help the medical staff choose the appropriate and safe food consistencies, and lead to a better swallowing outcome. This study aimed to determine the safety of food textures and drink consistencies in stroke patients with dysphagia. Materials and Methods: Stroke patients who failed the small-volume water swallow test (WST) and underwent fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) at the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine from 2017 to 2020 were reviewed. The patients’ characteristics and safe food textures and drink consistencies from their FEES results were collected. They were given a bolus test, which included four modified food textures and three varying drink consistencies, as adapted from the International Dysphagia Diet Standardization Initiative. The sequence of bolus test was adjusted by participants’ swallowing abilities individually. Moreover, their compensatory techniques were reviewed. Results: Forty-three participants were recruited. Most of them (81.3%) could safely swallow one consistency of drink. Twenty-five (58.1%) could safely swallow a mildly thick liquid. About 20% of them could not safely swallow any food textures. Most participants (76%) who safely swallowed a mildly thick liquid could also safely swallow at least one kind of food texture. About half of them (53%) used the chin-tuck technique during the FEES testing. Conclusion: Half of stroke patients with dysphagia who failed small-volume WST could safely swallow with a mildly thick liquid with compensatory techniques. Therefore, they should be referred to dysphagia specialists for comprehensive evaluation and management.