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Effortful Swallow Exercise With Visual Biofeedback for Tongue Strength in Parkinson's Disease
Sponsor: Saglik Bilimleri Universitesi
Summary
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether adding visual biofeedback to an effortful swallow exercise program improves tongue strength and swallowing function in adults with Parkinson's disease. The main questions it aims to answer are: * Does effortful swallow exercise with visual biofeedback increase tongue strength and tongue endurance more than the same exercise without visual biofeedback? * Does visual biofeedback lead to greater improvements in swallowing pressure, swallowing muscle activity, swallowing symptoms, and swallowing-related quality of life? Researchers compared two groups that performed the same effortful swallow exercise program. In one group, participants saw real-time feedback on a tongue pressure device (Iowa Oral Performance Instrument, IOPI) showing when they reached their target swallowing effort. In the other group, participants did the same exercises with verbal instructions only and did not see the device display. Participants: * Attended supervised exercise sessions with a speech-language therapist 3 times a week for 4 weeks (12 sessions in total) * Performed repeated hard saliva swallows in each session, with rest breaks between sets * Completed tongue pressure tests, a surface electromyography test of the muscles under the chin, and swallowing questionnaires before the program and within one week after it ended.
Official title: Effects of Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) Visual Biofeedback During Effortful Swallow Exercise on Tongue Strength and Endurance, Suprahyoid Muscle Activity, and Swallowing-Related Quality of Life in Individuals With Parkinson's Disease: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Key Details
Gender
All
Age Range
18 Years - Any
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Enrollment
35
Start Date
2024-09-16
Completion Date
2025-06-26
Last Updated
2026-10-30
Healthy Volunteers
No
Conditions
Interventions
Effortful swallow exercise with visual biofeedback
Supervised effortful saliva swallow exercise delivered by a speech-language therapist. Each session included five sets with 2-minute rest intervals: 16 swallows per set at 15-second intervals in weeks 1-2, and 20 swallows per set at 10-second intervals in weeks 3-4. The IOPI bulb was placed at the posterior tongue. The IOPI was operated in Target Mode at 80% of baseline maximum posterior tongue pressure, and participants received real-time visual feedback when the target was reached. Correct swallow execution was confirmed by observation of hyolaryngeal movement.
Effortful swallow exercise without visual biofeedback
Identical supervised effortful saliva swallow exercise protocol (same frequency, duration, sets, repetitions, intervals, and posterior tongue bulb placement). The IOPI was operated in Peak Mode, and the display was visible only to the therapist. Participants received standardized verbal instructions without visual feedback. Correct swallow execution was confirmed by observation of hyolaryngeal movement.
Locations (1)
University of Health Sciences Istanbul Training and Research Hospital
Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)