Respiratory-swallow coordination and swallowing impairment in head and neck cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The aim of the study was to determine the link between frequency of optimal respiratory-swallow coordination, swallowing impairment, and airway invasion in head and neck cancer (HNC) patients.

Method

A cross-sectional study of a heterogeneous group of HNC patients (49), precancer (N = 30) or postcancer treatment (N = 29), participated in a single Modified Barium Swallow Study (MBSS) with synchronized respiratory data.

Results

Spearman correlation coefficients revealed significant negative correlations between optimal respiratory-swallow phase pattern and objective measures of swallowing impairment: penetration-aspiration scale max, pharyngeal total, and oral total scores with Spearman correlation coefficients of -0.53 (z .001), -0.50 (P < .001), and -0.43 (P = .002), respectively. Optimal respiratory-swallow pattern was significantly decreased (P = .03) in patients after cancer treatment compared with another patient group before cancer treatment.

Conclusion

These findings indicate that as the percentage of optimal respiratory-swallow phase patterns increase, swallowing impairment decreases in the HNC patient population.

SUBMITTER: Hopkins-Rossabi T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8190712 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature