Screening dysphagia post acute stroke using MASA

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Swallowing difficulties (dysphagia) is a common symptom following stroke and are associated with adverse health outcomes, dehydration, malnutrition, pneumonia and even death. The aim of this study was to analyze the type and severity of dysphagia using standardized test Mann Assessment of Swallowing Ability (MASA) screening tool across different types of stroke and specific to site of brain infarct. Methodology: This is observational study in which MASA test was administered in 60 subjects admitted to tertiary care hospital following acute stroke between January to October 2017. The age of the study subjects was in the range of 20 -75 years. Results: The results revealed that majority of the study subjects i.e., 80 % of stroke patients analyzed were due to ischemic cause followed by 15% with hemorrhagic stroke, and in remaining 5% of study subjects’ hematoma was cause of dysphagia. The results of MASA delineated that majority of the study subjects i.e., 48% had mild dysphagia with no aspiration followed by 30% had mild dysphagia with aspiration, 11% had moderate dysphagia with mild aspiration, and 7% had moderate dysphagia with moderate aspiration risk, and 4% of study subjects had severe aspiration risk. Conclusion: Screening of subjects with acute stroke for dysphagia is essential for early identification and prevention of aspiration risk, which in turn helps to reduce the length of hospital stay and hospital cost.