Research Article

Implementation of Stroke Dysphagia Screening in the Emergency Department

Table 1

Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center stroke swallowing screening tool.

Non-swallowing items
 Somnolent-difficult to maintain arousal/alertness with vigorous stimulation
 Wet, gurgly voice quality-hear audible secretions in the throat with speech or respiration
 Dysarthria-slurred speech
 Drooling or pooling of saliva in oral cavity-difficulty managing saliva in the mouth
 Coughing, choking on saliva
 Patient/family reports patient with current difficulty swallowing
Swallowing items
 5 mL water ×2
 10 mL water ×2
 20 mL water ×2