Can an intensive voice treatment reduce drooling in children with cerebral palsy (CP)?

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: eurological; Neurological; Neurological - Other neurological disorders

• Registration Number: ACTRN12621000272897
• Lead Sponsor: Centre of Research Excellence Cerebral Palsy (CRE CP)

Brief Summary

The intensive voice treatment, LSVT LOUD®, had mixed effects on drooling, speech and swallowing for all five children with cerebral palsy (CP). Drooling was reduced for three participants following the treatment, with one participant showing a significant reduction. LSVT LOUD® shows promise in reducing drooling in children with CP, however modifications to the treatment, whereby more emphasis on contextual factors in delivering the intervention, are needed, to optimise its effects on drooling and related-outcomes for children with CP.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Completion: 2019-07-04
• Study Start: 2021-03-11
• Last Update Posted: 16 March 2021

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 5

Inclusion Criteria

(i)confirmed diagnosis of CP;
(ii)aged 7 to 18 years;
(iii)intelligence Quotient (IQ) at or above the moderate range of disability;
(iv)evidence of frequent and severe drooling, with a stable presentation over the previous 3 months;
(v)level I to III communicators on the Communication Function Classification System (CFCS) (Hidecker et al., 2011);
(vi)verbal communicators who were able to produce an ‘ah’ vocalisation;
(vii)sufficient language skills to produce at least 3-4 worded utterances;
(viii)overall speech intelligibility greater than 30% and/or no greater than ‘moderate to severe’ dysarthria;
(ix)demonstrated high compliance with previous speech pathology interventions (as pre-determined by parent and/or speech pathologist);
(x)ability to maintain independent head control; and
(xi)hearing within normal limits/ no dual diagnosis of hearing impairment.

Exclusion Criteria

(i) intellectual ability is greater than moderate-severe impairment (ii) presence of additional vocal pathology e.g. vocal nodules (iii) history of hoarse voice (iv) inconsistent drooling (periods when drooling is not present) (v) currently on medications that cause drooling e.g. clonazepam (vii) currently receiving other treatment for drooling e.g. block of oral sensory motor therapy.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified