Expiratory Muscle Strength Training for Drooling in Adults with Parkinson ’s Disease

This study explored the effect of an alter native therapy approach for drooling that aimed at improving the swallow, expiratory muscle strength training (EMST). Sixteen participants received EMST over a 6- to 8-week period. Measurements were taken pre- and post-training for drooling (Sialorrhea Clinical Scale for Parkinson’s Disease; SCS-P D), swallowing, lip strength and peak cough flow. Measures of drooling, swallowing and peak cough flow were stable over pre-training assessments and improved following training (p  <  0.01). The most conservative estimate of the within-group change for SCS-PD was − 2.50 (95% confidence interval −  3.22 to −  1.22). No adverse effects were reported and participants gave high satisfaction ratings for the training. A programme of EMST offers promise as a therapy to r educe drooling for people with Parkinson’s disease. Adequately powered randomised controlled trials of EMST are now needed.
Source: Dysphagia - Category: Speech-Language Pathology Source Type: research