Materials and Methods
Patients diagnosed with neurological dysphagia for less than two weeks
and hospitalized in an acute hospital setting were invited to
participate in this study. Inclusion criteria was also a severity degree
of the dysphagia equal to or greater than three determined according to
the Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS)18. Patients
unable to read or understand the manual due to language alterations,
cognitive deficits and/or illiteracy, were excluded. Cognitive state was
considered according the clinical process.
Patients fulfilling the inclusion criteria who agreed to participate in
the study were randomly allocated to the experimental and the control
group using an online software19. Assessment was
performed at T1 by the speech and language therapist, after establish
the first contact with the patient and evaluation of the degree of
dysphagia. Patents fulfilled a sociodemographic questionnaire, the
Portuguese version of the Subjective Happiness Scale
(SHS)20 and the adapted version of the Patients
Satisfaction with the Interview Assessment Questionnaire
(PSIAQ)21. The booklet was presented to the patients
included in the experimental group, during a speech therapy session. In
the control group, patients were submitted to the routine procedures. A
week later (T2) both groups of patients fulfil the same battery of
instruments, and a questionnaire evaluating the information received and
recalled (figure 1).