SPEECH THERAPY WORK IN PATIENTS WITH COVID-19 ADMITTED TO THE ICU

Abstract

In 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic due to the global spread of SARS-CoV-2. Patients with COVID-19, due to prolonged intubation, are at high risk of oropharyngeal dysphagia. Therefore, speech-language pathology care has become crucial in combating COVID-19 in the hospital setting, within the ICU. This care aims to manage dysphagia and reduce the risk of bronchoaspiration. This study aimed to investigate speech-language pathology care in patients diagnosed with COVID-19 admitted to the ICU. This is an applied, quantitative, qualitative, and exploratory, retrospective study based on access to the medical records of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 admitted to the Intensive Care Unit between 2020 and 2024. There were 47 medical records of patients admitted to the ICU, the predominant profile was adults aged 61 to 80 years (42.6%), male (57.4%), without comorbidities (74.5%), with a hospital stay of less than 10 days (34%), the majority required orotracheal intubation and mechanical ventilation (42.6%) without a diagnosis of dysphagia (72.3%) with progression to death (61.7%). Of the 19 patients who received speech-language pathology intervention, the main procedures were oral hygiene guidance (100%), orofacial motricity assessment, swallowing stimulation, and measures to prevent bronchoaspiration (89.5%). The main speech-language pathology interventions at the hospital studied were: oral hygiene guidance, oral motor and swallowing assessment, oral stimulation, bronchoaspiration prevention measures, alternative feeding route indication, oral feeding management and reintroduction, and airway protection maneuvers. This highlights the importance of speech-language pathology interventions in the ICU setting during the COVID-19 pandemic.