Objectives To assess the healthcare costs associated with poststroke oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) and its complications (malnutrition, dehydration, pneumonia and death). Design Systematic review following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses recommendations. Data sources MEDLINE, Embase and the National Health Service Economic Evaluation Database were searched up to 31 December 2019. Participants Patients with poststroke. Primary outcome measures The costs associated to poststroke OD and its complications. Data analysis Data were synthetised narratively, quality evaluation was done using an adaptation of Drummond’s checklist and Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation recommendations were used to assess strength of evidence. Results A total of 166 articles were identified, of which 10 studies were included. The cost of OD during the hospitalisation was assessed in four studies. One prospective study showed an increase of US$6589 for patients requiring tube feeding. Two retrospective studies found higher costs for those patients who developed OD, (US$7329 vs US$5939) among patients with haemorrhagic stroke transferred to inpatient rehabilitation and an increase of €3000 (US$3950) and SFr14 000 (US$15 300) in hospitalisation costs. One study did not found OD as a predictor for total medical costs in the multivariate analysis. One retrospective study showed an increase of US$4510 during the first year after stroke for those patients with OD. For pneumonia, five retrospective studies showed an increase in hospitalisation costs after stroke of between US$1456 and US$27 633. One prospective study showed an increase in hospitalisation costs during 6 months after stroke in patients at high malnutrition risk. Strength of evidence was considered moderate for OD and pneumonia and low for malnutrition. Conclusions This systematic review shows moderate evidence towards higher costs for those patients who developed OD after stroke. The available literature is heterogeneous, and some important aspects have not been studied yet. Further studies are needed to define the specific cost of poststroke OD. PROSPERO registration number CRD42018099977.

Background and purpose: The healthcare economic costs of post‐stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) are not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to assess the acute, subacute and long‐term costs related to post‐stroke OD and its main complications (malnutrition and respiratory infections).Methods: A cost of illness study of patients admitted to Mataró Hospital (Catalonia, Spain) from May 2010 to September 2014 with a stroke diagnosis was performed. OD, malnutrition and respiratory infections were assessed during hospitalization and follow‐up (3 and 12 months). Hospitalization and long‐term costs were measured from hospital and healthcare system perspectives. Multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to assess the independent effect of OD, malnutrition and respiratory infections on healthcare costs during hospitalization, and at 3 and 12 months’ follow‐up.Results: In all, 395 patients were included of whom 178 had OD at admission. Patients with OD incurred major total in‐hospital costs (€5357.67 ± €3391.62 vs. €3976.30 ± €1992.58, p < 0.0001), 3‐month costs (€8242.0 ± €5376.0 vs. €5320.0 ± €4053.0, p < 0.0001) and 12‐month costs (€11,617.58 ± €12,033.58 vs. €7242.78 ± €7402.55, p < 0.0001). OD was independently associated with a cost increase of €789.68 (p = 0.011) during hospitalization and of €873.5 (p = 0.084) at 3 months but not at 12 months. However, patients with OD who were at risk of malnutrition or malnourished and suffered respiratory infections incurred major mean costs compared with those patients without OD (€19,817.58 ± €13,724.83 vs. €7242.8 ± €7402.6, p < 0.0004) at 12 months’ follow‐up.Conclusion: Oropharyngeal dysphagia causes significant high economic costs during hospitalization that strongly and significantly increase with the development of malnutrition and respiratory infections at long‐term follow‐up.

Background: The effect of oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) and thickened fluid (TF) therapy on hydration status has not been well defined in the literature. We aimed to assess the hydration status in patients with OD and the effect TF therapy has on it. Methods: Two literature reviews following PRISMA methodology (each one including a systematic and a scoping review) were performed: (R1) hydration status in adult patients with OD; (R2) effect of TF therapy on fluid intake and dehydration. Narrative and descriptive methods summarized both reviews. Quality assessment was assessed by Joanna Briggs Institute tools and GRADE. Results: (R1) Five out of twenty-two studies using analytical parameters or bioimpedance showed poorer hydration status among OD and 19–100% prevalence of dehydration; (R2) two high quality studies (total of 724 participants) showed positive effects of TF on hydration status. Among the articles included, nine out of ten studies that evaluated fluid intake reported a reduced TF intake below basal water requirements. Conclusions: Dehydration is a highly prevalent complication in OD. There is scientific evidence on the positive effect of TF therapy on the hydration status of patients with OD. However, strict monitoring of fluid volume intake is essential due to the low consumption of TF in these patients.

Background: Post-stroke oropharyngeal dysphagia (PS-OD) and its complications increase healthcare costs, suggesting that its appropriate management is cost-effective. We aimed to assess the efficiency of healthcare interventions in PS-OD management. Methods: A systematic review was conducted following PRISMA recommendations. Four databases were searched from inception through 30 June 2021. Outcome measures were cost-effectiveness and cost-savings of healthcare interventions. English and Spanish literature were included. Narrative and tables were used to present and synthesise evidence. Quality was evaluated using the CHEERS Statement. Results: A total of 244 studies were identified, and 10 were included. Screening and diagnosis of PS-OD studies found: (1) adjusted reduction in hospitalisation costs when assessed during the first admission day; (2) non-significant reduction in hospitalisation costs with OD management after thrombolysis; and (3) videofluoroscopy as the most cost-effective screening method (compared to bedside evaluation and a combination of both). Two studies showed cost-effective rehabilitation programmes, including OD management. Pelczarska et al. showed an incremental cost–utility ratio of texture-modified diets using a gum-based thickener of 20,977 PLN (4660€) following a dynamic model, and Kotecki et al. commercially prepared thickened fluids that were 44% to 59% less expensive than in situ prepared fluids. Elia et al. showed home enteral nutrition was cost-effective (£12,817/QALY), and Beavan et al. showed higher nutrient intake and low increase in hospitalisation costs using looped-nasogastric tubes (£5.20 for every 1% increase). Heterogeneity between studies precluded a quantitative synthesis. Conclusions: Included studies suggest that healthcare interventions aiming to prevent OD complications are cost-effective. However, studies assessing novel strategies are needed.

Background and purpose: Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OD) affects 40–81% of patients after stroke. A recent systematic review on the costs of OD and its main complications showed higher acute and long-term costs for those patients who developed OD, malnutrition and pneumonia after stroke. These results suggest that appropriate management of post-stroke OD could reduce clinical complications and costs. The purpose of this systematic review is to assess the available literature for healthcare interventions that are efficient or cost-effective in the management of OD. Methods: A systematic review on economic evaluations of health care interventions will be performed on post-stroke patients with OD following PRISMA recommendations. Four bibliographic databases will be searched and a subsequent reference check will be done. English and Spanish literature will be included without date restrictions. Studies will be included if they refer to economic evaluations or in which cost savings were reported in post-stroke patients suffering OD. Studies will be excluded if they are partial economic evaluation studies, if they refer to esophageal dysphagia, or if OD is caused by causes different from stroke. Evidence will be presented and synthetised with a narrative method and using tables. Quality evaluation will be done using the Consolidated Health Economic Evaluation Reporting Standards (CHEERS) statement. Discussion: The protocol for this systematic review is the first step to assess the cost-effectiveness of the healthcare interventions that have been described as potential treatments for post-stroke OD. This systematic review will summarise the current evidence on the relation between cost and benefits associated with the appropriate management of OD in post-stroke patients. Trial registration: PROSPERO CRD42020136245

Chloroquine (CQ) and hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) have recently become the focus of global attention as possible treatments for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The current systematic review aims to assess their safety in short treatments (≤14 days), whether used alone or in combination with other drugs. Following the PRISMA and SWiM recommendations, a search was conducted using four health databases for all relevant English-, Chinese-, and Spanish-language studies from inception through 30 July 2021. Patients treated for any condition and with any comparator were included. The outcomes of interest were early drug adverse effects and their frequency. A total of 254 articles met the inclusion criteria, including case and case-control reports as well as cross-sectional, cohort, and randomised studies. The results were summarised either qualitatively in table or narrative form or, when possible (99 studies), quantitatively in terms of adverse event frequencies. Quality evaluation was conducted using the CARE, STROBE, and JADAD tools. This systematic review showed that safety depended on drug indication. In COVID-19 patients, cardiac adverse effects, such as corrected QT interval prolongation, were relatively frequent (0–27.3% and up to 33% if combined with azithromycin), though the risk of torsade de pointes was low. Compared to non-COVID-19 patients, COVID-19 patients experienced a higher frequency of cardiac adverse effects regardless of the regimen used. Dermatological adverse effects affected 0–10% of patients with autoimmune diseases and COVID-19. A broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric adverse effects affected patients treated with CQ for malaria with variable frequencies and some cases were reported in COVID-19 patients. Gastrointestinal adverse effects occurred regardless of drug indication affecting 0–50% of patients. In conclusion, CQ and HCQ are two safe drugs widely used in the treatment of malaria and autoimmune diseases. However, recent findings on their cardiac and neuropsychiatric adverse effects should be considered if these drugs were to be proposed as antivirals again.