Ndiema, Dalphine C.Abuom, T.Karia, M.2024-06-122024-06-122024-04https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381275066_The_Status_of_Health_Professionals%27_Knowledge_of_Complications_of_Impaired_Deglutition_among_Acute-Care_Inpatients_in_a_Kenyan_Referral_Hospitalhttps://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/handle/123456789/28333ArticleEarly dysphagia screening and identification are vital for improved clinical outcomes for patients with impaired deglutition. The Interprofessional Collaboration model advocates for a collective approach to dysphagia management to facilitate early dysphagia screening and identification. Such collaboration requires all health professionals involved in management of impaired deglutition to have a high awareness of its symptoms and signs, risk factors, and associated complications. However, there is limited research on dysphagia awareness among health professionals in Kenya. This paper reports on a study to establish health professionals’ awareness levels of oropharyngeal dysphagia-associated complications among adult inpatients in the medical and surgical wards (Acute Care Facility-ACF) of a National referral hospital in Kenya. The study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional design. Questionnaires were administered to an initial sample of 19 health professionals attending to adult inpatients in the ACF. Sixteen (16) of the sampled professionals completed and returned the questionnaires and were included in the final analyses. Awareness levels were assessed using a ten-item questionnaire and analyzed using frequencies, percentages, and means. The independent samples t-test and one-way ANOVA were used to compare the scores across selected individual characteristics. The mean proportion of correct responses to the questionnaire items was 73.0% (SD = 17.49), indicating that, on average, participants had moderate awareness of oropharyngeal dysphagia-associated complications. There were no significant differences in awareness levels due to gender, age, educational attainment, experience, specialization, or training. The findings show that health professionals attending to adult inpatients in the hospital’s medical and surgical units have, on average, moderate awareness of oropharyngeal dysphagia-associated complications.enAwarenesscomplicationsinterprofessional collaborationoropharyngeal dysphagiaswallowing/deglutitionArticle