Prediction of oral intake recovery for inpatients with aspiration pneumonia by videoendoscopic evaluation using the Hyodo-Komagane score in Japan

Objective: To verify the validity of the prediction of oral intake recovery for inpatients with aspiration pneumonia using the Hyodo-Komagane score. Background: Patients admitted for treatment of aspiration pneumonia sometimes have difficulty in resuming oral intake due to decreased swallowing function. Predicting whether the swallowing function will recover enough to achieve oral ingestion at discharge is an important factor in developing a treatment strategy. No studies have investigated the prediction of oral intake recovery using videoendoscopic examination. Methods: Subjects were 65 patients who were admitted to an acute care hospital for the treatment of aspiration pneumonia. The patients were divided into two groups, the oral feeding group and the tube feeding group, according to their oral intake status at discharge or transfer. Logistic regression analysis was performed using the condition that tube feeding was not required as an objective variable and the items with significant differences between the two groups as explanatory variables. Additionally, the receiver operating characteristic curve was used to identify patients who could take food orally at discharge. Results: The odds ratios for the Hyodo-Komagane score and the pharyngeal clearance score were 1.485 and 3.379, respectively. When the cut-off values of the Hyodo-Komagane score and the pharyngeal clearance score were 6 and 1, the sensitivity was 0.88 and 0.91, and the specificity was 0.64 and 0.70, respectively. Conclusion: The Hyodo-Komagane score and especially the pharyngeal clearance score are useful indices to predict oral intake recovery for inpatients with aspiration pneumonia.