Questionnaire survey on nurses and speech therapists regarding dysphagia rehabilitation in Japan

Current interventions of dysphagia are not generalizable, and treatments are commonly used in combination. We conducted a questionnaire survey on nurses and speech therapists regarding dysphagia rehabilitation to understand the current situation in Japan.

The questionnaire was sent to 616 certified nurses in dysphasia nursing and 254 certified speech-language-hearing therapists for dysphagia. Based on "Summaries of training methods in 2014" by JSDR, 24 local indirect exercises, 11 general indirect exercises, and 13 direct exercises were selected. The Likert scale "How do you feel about each method" was used as follows: A; Frequency, B; Ease, C; Adherence, D; Effectiveness (1-5))?".

Two hundred fifty (40%) nurses and 145 (57%) speech-language-hearing therapists (ST) responded to the questionnaire. The direct exercise was associated with a significantly high score in every question. In indirect exercises, "Cervical range of motion exercise," "Orofacial myofunctional exercise," "Lip closure exercise." "Ice massage of pharynx" and "Huffing" were used relatively frequently. "Balloon dilatation therapy" and "Tube exercise" was associated with a relatively high discrepancy for two questions. Frequency" and the sum of "Ease," "Adherence," and "Effectiveness." was significantly correlated for local indirect exercises (r2 = 0.928, P < 0.01), general indirect exercises (r2 = 0.987, P < 0.01), and direct exercises (r2 = 0.996, P < 0.01) (Fig. 5).

This study examined the current situation of dysphagia rehabilitation in Japan. Our results aid to increase understanding and selection of rehabilitative treatments for dysphagia patients in Japan.