The overall purpose of this project is to develop effective dysphagia rehabilitative interventions for patients with Alzheimer's Disease and related dementias at risk for pneumonia development.
This proposal consists of a small, randomized clinical trial to determine the impact of two novel interventions on swallowing-related outcomes in patients with mild-moderate Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) and identify subgroups of patients most likely to benefit from these interventions. Patient-caregiver dyads will be randomized to lingual strengthening, saliva substitute use, a combination of the two, or only usual care. Saliva and swallowing-related outcomes will be collected at baseline and following the 8 week intervention period. Consent and Randomization: Eligible dyads will be approached, consented and randomized at clinical care sites within University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics. Eligible participants' capacity to consent will determined by their primary clinical provider or team. Research staff will consent participant (or legally authorized representatives) prior to their swallow study. Each dyad will have equal chances of randomization to either usual care or one of the intervention arms plus usual care, with randomization stratified by the participant's dementia severity determined by the Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) scale to ensure equal distribution of mild and moderate patients. Baseline Assessment: Following randomization, the baseline assessment will be completed in tandem with the outpatient clinic visit. Staff will collect data on sociodemographics, comorbidities (using the Charlson comorbidity score approach) and medications (including anticholinergics and neuroleptics). The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) will be administered at this time. Oral health status will be graded using the Brief Oral Health Status Examination, a valid and reliable scoring instrument developed for non-dental health care providers in long term care. Dentition will be characterized by the number of posterior occlusal pairs of teeth and denture use. Smoking history and active use during the study will be recorded. Usual Care: Usual care group participants will receive standard swallowing interventions as recommended by the clinical Speech-Language Pathologist. Such treatment would likely consist of dietary (e.g., thickened liquids or pureed foods) or postural compensatory strategies (e.g., chin down posture while swallowing). All patient participants in intervention groups will also receive usual care, as indicated per their primary clinical team. Interventions: Saliva substitute: Each patient-caregiver dyad will be provided with a commercially available gel-based saliva substitute, Biotene® Oral Balance Gel. Participants will be instructed to apply an amount equivalent to about 1 cm of gel with a finger to the tongue and most intensely affected areas of the oral cavity three times a day for 8 weeks. Caregivers will be trained in how to assist the patient with application and support will be provided through follow-up phone calls. Lingual strengthening intervention: Device training for dyads assigned to lingual strengthening will occur following randomization during the research visit. Isometric tongue strengthening will be completed using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) over an 8-week program. An air-filled pressure bulb is placed on the surface of the oral tongue and pressed against the hard palate during exercise. Each patient is given a target pressure value to aim for as determined by the baseline one repetition maximum (1RM) lingual pressures. During week one of the regimen, the target value of each repetition will be 60% of the 1RM. For the remaining seven weeks, the target value will be increased to 80% of the 1RM. At weeks three, five, and seven, the baseline will be re-measured by phone and the 80% target value re-calculated. The final assessment point will be after completion of lingual strengthening. Training will be provided to both participants and caregivers on the device and lingual strengthening protocol and support will be provided to dyads through follow-up phone calls.
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Enrollment
76
An air-filled pressure bulb is placed on the surface of the oral tongue and pressed against the hard palate during exercise. Each patient is given a target pressure value to aim for as determined by the baseline one repetition maximum (1RM) lingual pressures. During week one of the regimen, the target value of each repetition will be 60% of the 1RM. For the remaining seven weeks, the target value will be increased to 80% of the 1RM. At weeks three, five, and seven, the baseline will be re-measured by phone and the 80% target value re-calculated.
Participants will be instructed to apply an amount equivalent to about 1 cm of Biotene® Oral Balance Gel with a finger to the tongue and most intensely affected areas of the oral cavity three times a day after brushing their teeth for 8 weeks.
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Madison, Wisconsin, United States
Change in Pharyngeal residue measured with the Normalized Residue Ratio Scale (NRRS)
Pixel-based measure of post-swallow pharyngeal barium residue as observed on a videofluoroscopic swallow study captured at 30 frames per second. This measure will represent the amount of pharyngeal residue as it relates to the distance between cervical vertebrae 2 and 4 which serve as an anatomical scalar. A higher value represents more pharyngeal residue which is a worse outcome.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Modified Barium Swallow Impairment Profile (MBSImP) Overall Impairment Scores
Assessment of swallow function is completed though examination of 17 physiologic components requisite for the execution of normal swallowing. MBSImP includes an operationally defined scoring metric for each component that is applied to accurately describe and quantify progressing levels of impairment. Total possible range of scores is 0-62 with higher scores indicative of increased impairment.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Penetration-Aspiration Scale Scores
The penetration-aspiration scale, a validated scale used to measure the severity of airway invasion with swallowing, will be used with recordings of videofluoroscopic swallow studies. This is an 8-point scale with no airway invasion represented by a score of 1 and aspiration with no response represented by a score of 8. A higher score represents a worse outcome.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Lingual strength-maximal isometric lingual pressures
Maximum lingual pressures will be measured at the anterior and posterior locations of the tongue using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). A higher value represents greater lingual pressure generation which is a better outcome.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
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Change in Functional Oral Intake Scale
This is a validated scale used the quantify the level of oral versus nonoral intake as well as any dietary modifications needed. A score of 1 represents no oral intake with complete dependence on a feeding tube while a score of 7 represents total oral intake with no diet modifications. A higher score represents a better outcome.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Swallowing Quality of Life Questionnaire
The Swal-QOL is a validated questionnaire focused on swallowing-related quality of life. It comprises 10 multi-item scales, 2 general scales, and a 14-item symptom battery. Total possible range of scores is 0-100, higher scores represent better quality of life.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks.
Change in Zarit Burden Interview
The Zarit Caregiver Burden Scale is used as a measure of caregiver psychological stress. The scores across all 22 items are summed and the range for the total score is from 0-88 with higher scores indicating greater burden (a worse outcome).
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Pneumonia diagnoses
As an exploratory outcome, we will review the electronic health record for all pneumonia diagnoses (ICD-10 codes)for 180 days after enrollment in the study. A decrease in the number of pneumonia diagnoses represents improvement.
Time frame: Post-enrollment at approximately days 7, 14, 28, 42, 56, 90, and 180
Change in Salivary Production Rates
Saliva production will be quantified through weighing collection tubes before and after unstimulated and stimulated saliva collection. A higher saliva weight represents a greater salivary flow rate and more saliva production.
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Residual Mucosal Saliva (RMS)
RMS correlates with hyposalivation and dryness perception, will be collected from the anterior hard palate (AHP), anterior tongue (AT), and lower labial (LL) surfaces using SialoPaper strips (Oraflow Inc., Smithtown, NY, USA). These strips will be applied for 10 seconds and measured using Periotron device (Oraflow Inc.).
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks
Change in Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity (DIGEST) scores
Assessment of swallow function is completed though analysis of videofluoroscopic images for swallowing safety and efficiency with the DIGEST tool. This is a validated method for identifying and rating penetration, aspiration, and residue, resulting in an overall score. DIGEST scores combine an evaluation of individual swallows to determine a safety grade of 0-4 with an efficiency grade of 0-4 to determine an overall DIGEST grade of 0 (no impairment) to 4 (profound impairment).
Time frame: Baseline, Post-treatment at approximately 8 weeks