The relationship between speech and swallowing disorders in head-injured patients

The speech and swallowing disorders of 151 traumatically brain-injured patients were rated in the acute medicine, acute rehabilitation, and outpatient rehabilitation settings. Prevalence, severity, and concurrence of speech and swallowing disorders changed as a function of time postonset and level of cognitive function. Data suggest that early postonset swallowing disorders (as measured on a functional scale) occur more frequently than speech disorders, occur frequently in isolation from speech disorders, and are relatively more severe than speech disorders. In an outpatient rehabilitation setting, swallowing disorders occur less frequently than speech disorders, and the severity levels of speech and swallowing disorders are roughly equivalent. Potential explanations for the discrepancies between speech and swallowing disorders are presented.