Swallowing Training in Parkinson's Disease

Federal University of Bahia17 enrolled

Overview

Dysphagia in Parkinson's disease(PD) is common and its presence is related to motor and sensory abnormalities, and incoordination between swallowing and breathing. Despite harming as respiratory infections and increased risk of death, treatment of this condition remains uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the effect of oral motor exercises on the swallowing dynamics and quality of life of dysphagic Parkinson's disease patients. This study is an open trial, self-paired and blinded to the examiner. The participants will perform oropharyngeal exercises for five weeks and will be evaluated before and after intervention by swallowing videofluoroscopy and questionnaires about quality of life in dysphagia (SWAL-QOL).

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Parkinson's Disease Deglutition Disorders Voice Disorders

Interventions

Motor exercises for swallowing, breathing and phonationOTHER

This exercises aimed to increase strength and range of motion of mouth, larynx and pharynx structures. All patients made sustained vowel phonation of /a/, pushing plosive phonemes /pa/, /ta/, /ka/ in a forceful manner, suction of wet gauze, swallowing with tongue hold and modified supraglottic maneuver, in ten repetitions, ascending and descending gliding phonation of vowel /a/ and /u/, five repetitions of each vowel, and tongue rotation in oral vestibule, 3 series of 5 repetitions to each side. Patients underwent oral motor exercises twice a day, five days a week, for five weeks.

Eligibility

Sex: ALL

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Clinical diagnosis of Parkinson disease * Complaint of dysphagia Exclusion Criteria: * Hoehn and Yahr stage 5 * Other neurological conditions * Therapy for swallowing in the last 3 months * Cognitive disorders * Psychiatric disorders

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Oropharyngeal Swallowing Score

Based on videofluoroscopy, were awarded points for the swallowing events according to their clinical relevance. The sum of these points results in the OSP (Oropharyngeal Swallowing Score), so that higher scores signify greater impairment in swallowing. OSP-score range from 0 to 243.5. This tool is being validated for that group.

Time frame: five weeks

Secondary Outcomes

Quality of Life

Measured by the Swal-qol (Quality of life in Swallowing disorders). In this questionnaire the score range from 0 to 100 and higher scores is better quality of life.