Early Feasibility and Efficacy of a Novel Skill-Based Training Program for Poststroke Dysphagia

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Speech-Language Pathology

Background:

• Stroke survivors frequently experience dysphagia, impacting quality of life.
• Skill-based training is crucial for motor relearning in post-stroke rehabilitation.
• Existing dysphagia interventions may lack systematic skill progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and evaluate the Effort Accuracy Timing-Skill Training Applied to Rehabilitation in Swallowing (EAT-STARS) program.
• To assess the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of EAT-STARS among clinicians and researchers.
• To investigate the early efficacy of EAT-STARS in poststroke patients with dysphagia.

Main Methods:

• The Plan-Do-Study-Act framework guided the study.
• A survey assessed clinician and researcher perceptions of EAT-STARS (n=22).
• Two poststroke patients with dysphagia received the EAT-STARS intervention, with pre- and post-treatment outcome measures.

Main Results:

• EAT-STARS achieved high scores for acceptability (90%), appropriateness (87.5%), and feasibility (83.4%).
• Patients showed improvements in clinical swallowing ability and physiological measures post-intervention.
• Patients reported enhanced swallowing function and reduced difficulty.

Conclusions:

• The EAT-STARS program is highly acceptable, appropriate, and feasible for treating poststroke dysphagia.
• The intervention demonstrates early efficacy, improving swallowing function and patient-reported outcomes.
• Further research with larger patient cohorts is warranted to confirm efficacy and satisfaction.