Thanh G Phan, Talvika Kooblal, Chelsea Matley, Shaloo Singhal, Benjamin B Clissold, John Van Ly, Amanda G Thrift, Velandai Srikanth, Henry Ma Stroke severity versus Dysphagia Screen as driver for post-stroke pneumonia Frontiers in Neurology, section Stroke 2019 Jan 29;10:16. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2019.00016

Background and Purpose: 

Post-stroke pneumonia is a feared complication of stroke as it is associated with greater mortality and disability than in those without pneumonia. Patients are often kept “Nil By Mouth” (NBM) after stroke until after receiving a screen for dysphagia and declared safe to resume oral intake. We aimed to assess the proportional contribution of stroke severity and dysphagia screen to pneumonia by borrowing idea from coalition game theory on fair distribution of marginal profit (Shapley value).