The Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS) was developed for acute stroke patients. Patients at the intensive care unit (ICU) have a comparable high risk of dysphagia soon after extubation. Screening for dysphagia can prevent aspiration, pneumonia, lower mortality, and shorten re-feeding interval. However, only a few swallowing assessments have been validated for this specific population. Therefore, the GUSS was modified and validated for extubated patients in the ICU in the context of a master thesis at the Department of Clinical Neurosciences and preventive medicine (Troll 2022).

Compared to flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES ) the adapted version of the GUSS, the GUSS-ICU, showed good validity when performed by two speech and languages therapists: The sensitivity was 91.7% and 94.4%; the specificity was 88.9% and 66.7%; the positive predictive values were 97.1% and 91.9%, and the negative predictive values were 72.7% and 75% for the first and second rater pairs, respectively. The interrater reliability showed good agreement (Cohen`s Kappa: 0.84, p < 0.001).

Troll C, Trapl-Grundschober M, Teuschl Y, Cerrito A, Gallego Compte M, Siegemund M. A bedside swallowing screen for the identification of post-extubation dysphagia on the intensive care unit – validation of the Gugging Swallowing Screen (GUSS)—ICU. BMC Anesthesiol 23, 122. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12871-023-02072-6

Troll C. 2022. Modifikation und Validierung des Gugging Swallowing Screens für die Intensivstation. Master Thesis Donau-Universität Krems (German)