this review of the literature indicates that non-randomized studies have compromised the results, once the casuistic of the researches are very heterogeneous--they include neurogenic and mechanical oropharyngeal dyshagia caused by different etiologies. Besides that, therapeutic programs which are used are not sufficiently described, compromising the reproduction of the methodology by other researchers. These results suggest the need for more randomized studies, which can be initially developed as case studies in order to exclude the control variables of therapy efficacy. Another suggestion is, as proposed by present researches, to use scales that can measure the impact of swallowing training in the nutritional and pulmonary condition of dysphagic patients. An important research area, related to the control of therapeutic efficacy and efficiency, are the studies that aim to establish the decrease in hospital and home care costs as a consequence of speech-language intervention with patients with oropharyngeal dyspahgia.