Professional qualification of Brazilian Speech-Language Pathologists and its impacts on the Blue Dye Test (BDT)

To characterize the professional profile of Speech Pathologists working in health services in Brazil and to verify if the time length of professional practice, specialized formation and experience in dysphagia contribute to the more adequate interpretation and application of the Blue Dye Test (BDT).

Through social medias and class entities, speech pathologists from all over Brazil were contacted by e-mail, that provided them a link from which they could access the online quiz, containing questions about the professional profile and the application of the BDT. The responses were categorized dichotomously according to the most robust scientific researches on the BDT and were compared statistically according to time length of professional practice, specialized formation and experience in dysphagia.

145 speech pathologists participated, 91.7% of them females. Most work in hospitals, have 11 to 15 years of profession (27.6%), and working from 1 to 5 years in the area of dysphagia (32.4%). Professionals with lato sensu training (54.3%) and with more than a decade of profession (58.1%) showed greater adequacy in interpreting the positive result of BDT.

The present study reinforces the important role of specialized training in dysphagia in addition to continuing health educational practices in determining the excellence of clinical speech therapy, especially with tracheostomized patients after intubation and at risk of bronchoaspiration.