Abstract: Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) exposes patients to several health conditions and complications. This study assessed OPD presentation in the acute care facility (ACF) of a national hospital in Kenya. The objectives were to establish the demographic characteristics of adult inpatients diagnosed with OPD, determine their OPD-related comorbidities, and identify OPD traits for bedside swallowing safety in ACF. Archival records of 36 initial speech-language therapy (SLT) consultations diagnosed with OPD were reviewed. Data from these purposive records were analyzed using frequencies, percentages, means, Fisher's exact test........
Keywords: acute care facility, comorbidity, bedside swallowing safety, oropharyngeal dysphagia.
[1]. C. Takizawa, E. Gemmell, J. Kenworthy And R. Speyer, "A Systematic Review Of The Prevalence Of Oropharyngeal Dysphagia In Stroke, Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Head Injury, And Pneumonia," Dysphagia, Vol. 31, No. 3, Pp. 434-441, Mar. 2016.
[2]. D. Sun-Waterhouse, W. Kang, M. Changyang And G. I. Waterhouse, "Towards Human Well-Being Through Proper Chewing And Safe Swallowing: Multidisciplinary Empowerment Of Food Design," Journal Of Future Foods, Vol. 1, No. 1, Pp. 1-24, Oct. 2021.
[3]. I. J. Cook, "Oropharyngeal Dysphagia," Gastroenterology Clin, Vol. 38, No. 3, Pp. 411-431, Sep. 2009.
[4]. C. Bolinger And J. Dembowski, "Speech Language Pathology Consultations And Medical Outcomes For Patients With Aspiration Pneumonia," Journal Of Medical And Health Studies, Vol. 3, No. 3, Pp. 45-58, Aug. 2022.
[5]. C. Adkins, W. Takakura, B. M. Spiegel, Et Al., "Prevalence And Characteristics Of Dysphagia Based On A Population-Based Survey," Clinical Gastroenterology And Hepatology, Vol. 18, No. 9, Pp. 1970-79, Oct. 2019.