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Updated: May 24, 2026
Adapting Human Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study Methods to Detect and Characterize Dysphagia in Murine Disease Models
Published on: March 1, 2015
Functional and physiological outcomes from an exercise-based dysphagia therapy: a pilot investigation of the McNeill
Michael A Crary1, Giselle D Carnaby, Lisa A LaGorio
1Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA. mcrary@phhp.ufl.edu.
Objective:
To investigate functional and physiological changes in swallowing performance of adults with chronic dysphagia after an exercise-based dysphagia therapy.
Design:
Intervention study: before-after trial with 3-month follow-up evaluation.
Setting:
Outpatient clinic within a tertiary care academic health science center.
Participants:
Adults (N=9) with chronic (>12 mo) dysphagia after unsuccessful prior therapies. Subjects were identified from among patients referred to an outpatient dysphagia clinic. Subjects had dysphagia secondary to prior treatment for head/neck cancer or from neurologic injury. All subjects demonstrated clinical and fluoroscopic evidence of oropharyngeal dysphagia. No subject withdrew during the course of this study.
Interventions:
All subjects completed 3 weeks of an intensive, exercise-based dysphagia therapy. Therapy was conducted daily for 1h/d, with additional activities completed by subjects each night between therapy sessions.
Main Outcome Measures:
Primary outcomes were clinical and functional change in swallowing performance with maintenance at 3 months after intervention. Secondary, exploratory outcomes included physiological change in swallow performance measured by hyolaryngeal elevation, lingual-palatal and pharyngeal manometric pressure, and surface electromyographic amplitude.
Results:
Clinical and functional swallowing performances improved significantly and were maintained at the 3-month follow-up examination. Subject perspective (visual analog scale) on functional swallowing also improved. Four of 7 subjects who were initially feeding tube dependent progressed to total oral intake after 3 weeks of intervention. Physiological indices demonstrated increased swallowing effort after intervention.
Conclusions:
Significant clinical and functional improvement in swallowing performance followed a time-limited (3 wk) exercise-based intervention in a sample of subjects with chronic dysphagia. Physiological changes after therapy implicate improved neuromuscular functioning within the swallow mechanism.
