Swallowing Exercises to Prevent Dysphagia Post-Treatment in People Treated for Advanced Stage Head and Neck Cancer; Addressing the Research Shortfalls

Alison R. Perry and Susan M. Cotton

Department of Clinical Therapies, Faculty of Education and Health Sciences, The University of Limerick, LIMERICK, Ireland
Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, 35 Poplar Road, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia
The Centre for Youth Mental Health, University of Melbourne, 35 Poplar Road, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC 3052, Australia

^*Correspondance to: Alison R. Perry 

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Abstract:

Background: Advances in treating advanced Head and Neck Squamous Cell Cancer (HNSCC) have meant improved mortality and survival rates over the last decade, but significant morbidity (specifically, dysphagia) often persists. Therapeutic swallowing exercises are often implemented, without the evidence for such intervention being established.Methods: This is a critique of the studies sourced for our Cochrane systematic review, which was completed to determine the benefit of therapeutic swallowing exercises undertaken before, during, and/or immediately after treatment, in people treated with curative intent for advanced stage HNSCC.Findings: We found no evidence that therapeutic exercises were better than treatment as usual, or any other treatment, in improving the safety and efficient of oral swallowing (primary outcome). Shortfalls in the published study designs included; a lack of agreement about primary outcomes, about suitable tools used to measure them, and the choice of baselines and endpoints across studies. In this paper, we make suggestions of ways to improve the methodological quality of future studies.

Keywords:

Cancer of the head and neck; Squamous cell carcinoma; Deglutition disorders; Oropharyngeal dysphagia; Swallowing rehabilitation exercises

Cite the Article:

Perry AR, Cotton SM. Swallowing Exercises to Prevent Dysphagia Post-Treatment in People Treated for Advanced Stage Head and Neck Cancer; Addressing the Research Shortfalls. Clin Oncol. 2017; 2: 1324.