Background and purpose: Swallowing screens after acute stroke identify those patients who do not need a formal swallowing evaluation and who can safely take food and medications by mouth. We conducted a systematic review to identify swallowing screening protocols that met basic requirements for reliability, validity, and feasibility.
Methods: We searched MEDLINE and supplemented results with references identified through other databases, journal tables of contents, and bibliographies. All relevant references were reviewed and evaluated with specific criteria.
Results: Of 35 protocols identified, 4 met basic quality criteria. These 4 had high sensitivities of ≥87% and high negative predictive values of ≥91% when a formal swallowing evaluation was used as the gold standard. Two protocols had greater sample sizes and more extensive reliability testing than the others.
Conclusions: We identified only 4 swallowing screening protocols for patients with acute stroke that met basic criteria. Cost-effectiveness of screening, including costs associated with false-positive results and impact of screening on morbidity, mortality, and length of hospital stay, requires elucidation.