Effects of Pharyngeal Electrical Stimulation on Swallow Timings, Clearance and Safety in Post-Stroke Dysphagia: Analysis from the Swallowing Treatment Using Electrical Pharyngeal Stimulation (STEPS) Trial
Table 1
Baseline characteristics for participants in STEPS: excluded vs. included (); included (, PES vs. sham). Data are number (%), median [interquartile range], or mean (standard deviation). Comparison by Chi-Square (Exact) Test/Fisher’s Exact Test (binary/ordinal variables) or Welch’s -Test (continuous variables).
All
Excluded
Included
PES
Sham
Patients
126
45
81
81
43
38
Age,
126
73.4 (11.4)
73.3 (11.8)
73.4 (11.2)
0.98
81
72.8 (10.0)
74.1 (12.5)
Sex, female (%)
126
49 (38.9)
15 (33.3)
34 (42.0)
0.45
81
21 (48.8)
13 (34.2)
Ethnicity, white (%)
126
108 (85.7)
43 (95.6)
65 (80.2)
0.031
81
39 (90.7)
36 (94.7)
Modified Rankin Scale (/6)
126
4.1 (1.0)
4.0 (1.1)
4.1 (1.0)
0.47
81
3.9 (1.0)
4.4 (0.9)
Barthel Index (/100)
126
28.9 (29.8)
31.4 (30.8)
27.4 (29.4)
0.48
81
33.8 (32.7)
20.1 (23.4)
Stroke
3 (6.7)
12 (14.8)
0.25
81
43
37
Previous (%)
126
15 (11.9)
9 (20.9)
3 (7.9)
Type, ischaemic (%)
110
96 (87.3)
32 (86.5)
64 (87.7)
1.00
73
33 (86.8)
31 (88.6)
Side of CT lesion (%)
123
0.25
80
43
37
Left
55 (44.7)
20 (46.5)
35 (43.8)
19 (44.2)
16 (43.2)
Right
50 (40.7)
14 (32.6)
36 (45.0)
18 (41.9)
18 (48.6)
No lesion
18 (14.6)
9 (20.9)
9 (11.3)
6 (14.0)
3 (8.1)
Syndrome (%)
126
0.31
81
TACS
35 (27.8)
13 (28.9)
22 (27.2)
11 (25.6)
11 (28.9)
PACS
49 (38.9)
14 (31.1)
35 (43.2)
21 (48.8)
14 (36.8)
Lacunar
41 (32.5)
17 (37.8)
24 (29.6)
11 (25.6)
13 (34.2)
POCS
1 (0.8)
1 (2.2)
0 (0)
0 (0)
0 (0)
Severity, NIHSS (/42)
126
10.1 (6.5)
9.5 (7.3)
10.4 (6.0)
0.48
81
10.1 (6.1)
10.8 (5.9)
Dysphasia, NIHSS (%)
126
44 (34.9)
13 (28.9)
31 (38.3)
0.33
81
17 (39.5)
14 (36.8)
Onset to randomisation (days) mean (SD)
126
16.2 (9.9)
15.2 (8.3)
16.8 (10.7)
0.33
81
15.4 (10.3)
18.4 (11.1)
Median [IQR]
14 [11]
15.0 [12]
14.0 [16]
15.5 [15]
13.0 [13]
DSRS (/12)
126
7.4 (3.7)
7.8 (3.7)
7.1 (3.7)
0.35
81
7.4 (4.0)
6.8 (3.2)
TOR-BSST, failed (%)
126
122 (96.8)
45 (100)
77 (95.1)
0.30
81
41 (95.3)
36 (94.7)
Feeding route (%)
126
0.14
81
43
38
Oral, normal diet
7 (5.6)
5 (11.1)
2 (2.5)
2 (4.7)
0 (0)
Oral, soft diet
36 (28.6)
9 (20.0)
27 (33.3)
13 (30.2)
14 (36.8)
Nasogastric
70 (55.6)
27 (60.0)
43 (53.1)
25 (58.1)
18 (47.4)
PEG
2 (1.6)
0 (0)
2 (2.5)
2 (4.7)
0 (0)
Other
11 (8.7)
4 (8.9)
7 (8.6)
1 (2.3)
6 (15.8)
Weight (kg)
126
73.0 (16.1)
74.1 (16.5)
72.4 (15.9)
0.58
81
71.5 (14.8)
73.4 (17.2)
Body mass index (kg/m2)
122
25.6 (4.9)
25.7 (4.9)
25.5 (4.9)
0.88
77
25.8 (4.3)
25.3 (5.5)
Mid-arm circumference (cm)
125
28.5 (3.6)
28.2 (3.4)
28.6 (3.7)
0.61
80
28.3 (3.4)
28.9 (4.0)
Albumin (g/L)
120
3.6 (0.6)
3.6 (0.6)
3.7 (0.5)
0.44
77
3.7 (0.6)
3.6 (0.5)
Chest infection (%)
126
5 (4.0)
3 (6.7)
2 (2.5)
0.35
81
1 (2.3)
1 (2.6)
CT: computed tomography; DSRS: dysphagia severity rating scale; ICH: intracerebral haemorrhage; NIHSS: National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale; PEG: percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy; TACS: total anterior circulation syndrome; PACS: partial anterior circulating syndrome; POCS: posterior communicating syndrome; TOR-BSST: Toronto Bedside Swallowing Screening Test. PES group associated with lower mRS () and higher Barthel Index ().
