Nursing interventions in adult patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia: a systematic review

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a geriatric syndrome of high prevalence. It requires screening, diagnosis and specific care to avoid possible complications. The objective of this study is to perform a systematic review of the literature to know what interventions are performed by nursing professionals in the care of adult patients with OD.

A systematic literature review was conducted, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) declaration guideline. Included are observational and analytical scientific studies on the interventions nurses made in the assessment and screening of OD secondary to age and/or neurodegenerative diseases, as well as nursing interventions in patient's care and diagnosis in the electronic databases of Medline, SCOPUS and CINALH.

A total of 51 articles were included: 10 observational studies, 29 experimental studies and 12 systematic reviews. 66.7% studies talked about the interventions to patients with OD secondary to ICTUS. 82.05% was performed in a hospital setting. In 49.01% of the articles, nurses are mentioned as participants in the interventions.

Screening and clinical assessment of OD for an early diagnosis are the interventions performed by the most prevalent nursing professionals found in the literature, mainly in the OD, due to ICTUS and in the hospital setting. Further research on interventions by nursing professionals is needed in this area.