The effect of laryngeal elevation training on swallowing function in patients with dysphagia.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of laryngeal elevation training without highly loaded head lifting on swallowing function in patients with dysphagia.

METHODS

Fifty-seven patients with dysphagia (36 men; mean age, 78.5 ± 11.4 years) were included. All participants performed the swallowing forehead exercise and the chin push-pull manoeuvre for two months. Videoendoscopy to assess swallowing function, the peak expiratory flow test and the hand grip strength test were performed at the initial visit (time 1) and two months after the start of the intervention (time 2). We used the Hyodo score, a scoring method for videoendoscopic assessment, for evaluation of swallowing function.

RESULTS

The linear mixed model showed a significant main effect of time (the Hyodo score at time 1 was greater than the score at time 2). The effects of the co-variates were not significant.

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated the significant effect of laryngeal elevation training without head lifting on the Hyodo score.