journal articles
ADVERSE RESPIRATORY EVENTS DURING EATING/FEEDING OF LONG TERM CARE INSTITUTIONAL PATIENTS
E. Lubart, R. Segal, M. Belov, L. Sadogorsky, L. Valinsky, A. Leibovitz
J Aging Res Clin Practice 2014;3(2):89-92
Background/ Objectives: Oropharyngeal Dysphagia is highly prevalent in long term care patients (LTC ) frequently raising concerns regarding aspiration during eating/ feeding .The aim of this study was to monitor and collect, for the first time, feeding related adverse respiratory events in LTC hospitalized patients. Design/Participance: 155 patients in the LTC wards of a geriatric hospital were followed for 29 weeks. Adverse respiratory events related to feeding such as choking or dyspnea were recorded. Patients were stratified according to the different stages of the Functional Outcome Swallowing Scale (FOSS). Results: There were 755 adverse respiratory events (24 choking events– 3%: and 731 dyspnea episodes – 97%) during 10780 patient days of the study. Calculated per patient days it makes 1 in 46 for choking and 1 in 13 for dyspnea. Adverse respiratory events occurred with similar frequency in the different groups regardless of FOSS stage. Conclusions: Our results indicate that regardless of the state of dysphagia and feeding method, the potential risk of feeding related respiratory events is similar among LTC elderly patients. Further studies from similar facilities could contribute to the evaluation of these data and eventually consider them as quality of care markers of the eating/feeding process in long term care patients.
CITATION:
E. Lubart ; R. Segal ; M. Belov ; L. Sadogorsky ; L. Valinsky ; A. Leibovitz (2014): ADVERSE RESPIRATORY EVENTS DURING EATING/FEEDING OF LONG TERM CARE INSTITUTIONAL PATIENTS. The Journal of Aging Research and Clinical Practice (JARCP). http://dx.doi.org/10.14283/jarcp.2014.17