Affiliations: [a] Department of Rehabilitation Science, Graduate School of Inje University, Republic of Korea
| [b] Department of Physical Therapy, Inje University, Gimhae, Republic of Korea
| [c] Department of Occupational Therapy, Kyungdong University, Wonju, Republic of Korea
| [d] Department of Occupational Therapy, Inje University, Gimhae, Republic of Korea
Correspondence:
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Address for correspondence: Moon-Young Chang, Department of Occupational Therapy, Inje University, 197 Inje-ro, Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, 621-749, Gimhae, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 55 320 3685; Fax: +82 55 326 4885; E-mail: myot@inje.ac.kr.
Abstract: BACKGROUND:Recently, chin tuck against resistance exercise (CTAR) has been reported as a remedial treatment for pharyngeal dysphagia. However, the clinical evidence of the effect is still lacking. OBJECTIVE:This study investigated the effect of CTAR on the swallowing function in patients with dysphagia following subacute stroke. METHODS:The patients were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 11) or a control group (n = 11). The experimental group performed CTAR using the CTAR device. The control group received only conventional dysphagia treatment. Both groups received training on five days a week, for four weeks. The swallowing function was measured using functional dysphagia scale (FDS) and penetration-aspiration scale (PAS), based on a videofluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS). RESULTS:The experimental group showed more improvements in the oral cavity, laryngeal elevation/epiglottic closure, residue in valleculae, and residue in pyriform sinuses of FDS and PAS compared to the control group (p < 0.05, all). CONCLUSIONS:This study demonstrated that CTAR is effective in improving the pharyngeal swallowing function in patients with dysphagia after stroke. Therefore, we recommend CTAR as a new remedial training alternative to HLE.
Keywords: Aspiration, chin tuck against resistance, dysphagia, stroke, rehabilitation
