Prevalence of dysphagia, malnutrition and dehydration at admission in a stroke unit

BACKGROUND: Despite the high prevalence of malnutrition, dehydration and dysphagia after acute stroke, the relationships among them are still debated. In addition, the large majority of previous reports did not assess these conditions at the same time. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of malnutrition, dehydration and dysphagia at admission in stroke unit and to assess the relationships among these three conditions. METHODS: A total of 161 patients consecutively admitted to the Stroke Unit of our hospital in the period between 1st January 2014 and 31th December 2015 were enrolled. Information regarding age, gender, weight, height, stroke severity, oral intake, presence of dysphagia, malnutrition and dehydration were collected at admission. RESULTS: The presence of dysphagia was confirmed in 24.2% of patients, malnutrition was found in 16.2% of patients, while patients with dehydration accounted for 49.7% of the cohort. No significant correlations were found among these three conditions. On the other hand, significant correlations were demonstrated between presence of dysphagia and stroke severity, stroke-related disability and ability to consume food. CONCLUSIONS: Dysphagia, malnutrition and dehydration are prevalent in patients with ischemic stroke. However, these three conditions are not associated with each other, at least at the time of hospital admission.