Tongue Pressure and Grip Strength as Indicators of Persistent Dysphagia After Acute Stroke

This study aimed to identify the independent predictors of postacute stroke dysphagia at discharge using sarcopenia-related parameters. This single-center prospective observational study assessed consecutive inpatients diagnosed with cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage upon admission to the stroke unit. Tongue pressure, grip strength, and body composition were evaluated within 48 h. Dysphagia was defined by a functional oral intake scale of ≤ 5. Patient characteristics were compared between non-dysphagia and dysphagia groups using Mann-Whitney or chi-squared tests. Logistic regression analysis was performed using age, sex, tongue pressure, grip strength, skeletal muscle mass index (SMI), and National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) scores as explanatory variables, with dysphagia at discharge as the objective variable. A total of 302 patients (mean age: 69.4 ± 13.8 years, 67.5% male) were analyzed, with 64 having dysphagia at discharge (21.2%). The dysphagia group was significantly older (p<0.001), had higher NIHSS scores on admission (p<0.001), lower SMI (p = 0.002), lower grip strength (p<0.001), and lower tongue pressure (p<0.001) than the non-dysphagia group. Logistic regression revealed that age (OR: 1.042, p = 0.018), tongue pressure (OR: 0.954, p = 0.010), and grip strength (OR: 0.943, p = 0.048) on admission were independent predictors of dysphagia at discharge, while NIHSS scores (OR: 1.403, p = 0.106), sex, and SMI (OR: 1.403, p = 0.150) were not. Older age, reduced tongue pressure, and reduced grip strength are strong predictors of persistent poststroke dysphagia at discharge. Thus, muscle strength is a more valuable parameter than muscle mass in predicting persistent poststroke dysphagia.