Post-stroke rehabilitation: Identification of speech-language disorders signs and symptoms by physicians and nurses in Primary Health Care

Abstract

Purpose: Stroke is a common disease for people and a global public health concern in terms of mortality, disability, and cost demand. This study aims to assess which groups of comorbidities related to speech-language disorders are identified by physicians and nurses of the Family Health Strategy (FHS) as to be referred to post-stroke speech-language rehabilitation at Primary and Secondary Health Care. Methods: Twenty-two physicians and nurses, from the FHS supported by the Family Health Support Center in southern Brazil, answered a questionnaire developed for this study, exploring socio-demographic variables, education background, professional performance and conduct to post-stroke patients. A descriptive data analysis (absolute and relative frequencies) was performed in SPSS Software 22. Results: Among the participants, 77.3% refer post-stroke patients to physiotherapy and 54.5% to speech-language rehabilitation. None refer to patients to treatment due to cognitive comprehension sequelae; 90.0% refer for significant speech-language disorders. In case of changes in the stomatognathic system, 80.0% of physicians do not refer to speech-language pathologists, and 83.3% of nurses usually do. Conclusion: The professionals showed difficulty in identifying speech-language pathological signs and symptoms related to cognition and the stomatognathic system, not referring to speech-language rehabilitation at primary or secondary health care. The results highlight the importance of continuing education and improvement of the knowledge of the primary health care teams, so that speech-language sequelae are properly identified and sent for rehabilitation.