Tongue strengthening exercises in head and neck cancer patients: does level of resistance matter?

Not Applicable

• Conditions: Patients with dysphagia following head and neck cancer or neurodegenerative diseases.; Cancer; Head and neck cancer

• Registration Number: ISRCTN14447678
• Lead Sponsor: Antwerp University Hospital (Belgium)

Brief Summary

2015 protocol in: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26340887

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2015-02-19
• Last Update Posted: 9 November 2020
• Study Completion: 2027-12-31

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Ongoing
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 45

Inclusion Criteria

1. Head and neck cancer patients previously treated with chemoradiotherapy
2. Men and women older than 18, without cognitive, language, motor, hearing or visual deficits that could interfere with the correct execution of the training.
3. Chronic dysphagia (i.e. present for at least 1 month and no earlier than 6 months after the last day of radiation treatment), primarily related to reduced tongue strength
4. Score 1 or higher for the BRACS-items ‘base of tongue’ and/or ‘valleculae’ at baseline judged by an experienced clinician

Exclusion Criteria

1. History of major oral or head and neck surgery and neurological disorders with an impact on oral function and/or swallowing (amongst others stroke, traumatic brain injury, Parkinson’s disease, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).
2. Concurrent oral motor exercises or swallowing maneuvers to improve swallowing are not allowed during the study period.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified