Published Paper Details:

Background: Stroke is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide. Dysphagia in stroke occurs about 51% of the time worldwide. Dysphagia is caused by delayed triggering of the swallowing reflex, reduced pharyngeal peristalsis, and a reduced lingual reflex. There are different treatment approaches for treating dysphagia, such as Rehabilitation Swallowing Therapy (RST), Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS), and NMES, RST includes postural adjustment, supraglottic swallowing, the Mendelsohn maneuver, and effortful swallowing. TENS is applied to cause muscle contraction and stimulate sensory pathways. Method: In the present study, 30 patients were taken at random and placed in two groups, group A (n = 15) RST and group B (n = 15) TENS, respectively. Outcome measures used were MMSE, FIM, STREAM, and FOIS. Result: In the present study, RST was statistically more effective than TENS, as demonstrated with unpaired t tests: MMSE (p = 0.0115), FIM (p = 0.929), STREAM (p = 0.5775), and FOIS (p = 0.068). When comparison was done within the group, all outcome measures showed non-significant values pre- and post intervention. MMSE (p = 0.0005 in groups A and B), FIM (p = 0.0273 in groups A and B), STREAM (p = 0.0005 in groups A and B), and FOIS (p = 0.0001 in groups A and B). Conclusion: RST showed more effect than TENS in post-stroke dysphagic patients