PURPOSE: to study the aspects of rheological behavior and labels of texture-modified foods and thickened fluids as used by teams of speech-language pathologist of dysphasia's services of São Paulo based on Australian standardized labels and definitions and rheological behavior. METHOD: quantitative and descriptive study. Data were collected from semi-structured questionnaires with speech-language pathologists in dysphasia teams. The questions were about foods used in clinical practice and the form of classification, and included the number of levels and labels used, and information on the interdisciplinary performance. The viscosities were measured in centipoises (cP) and the foods and fluids were classified according to rheological behavior. The last step was food classification, professionals reported using foods of the same rheological behavior in their practices. RESULTS: speech-language pathologists related 33 different labels to 07 levels of food textures and fluid thickness based on Australian standardized. The main topics were: liquid, pasty and solid, followed by grades and specifications. Speech pathologists from different dysphasia care services use different terminologies in order to designate the same preparation in the Sate of São Paulo. CONCLUSION: larger studies are needed to enable us to set out unified terminology in Brazil.
Deglutition Disorders; Rheology; Interdisciplinary Communication
