Dysphagia therapy in adults with a tracheostomy: A scoping review protocol

BACKGROUND

Swallowing impairment (dysphagia) and tracheostomy coexist. Research in this area has often provided an overview of dysphagia management as a whole, but there is limited information pertaining to specific dysphagia therapy in the tracheostomy population. The aim of this scoping review is to provide a detailed exploration of the literature with regard to dysphagia therapeutic interventions in adults with a tracheostomy. The scoping review will describe current evidence and thus facilitate future discussions to guide clinical practice.

METHODS

A scoping review using the Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guideline will be used. Ten electronic databases from inception to December 2023 and grey literature will be searched. From identified texts forward and backward citation chasing will be completed. Data extraction will compose of population demographics, aetiology and dysphagia therapy (type, design, dose and intensity). A number of citations and papers included in the scoping review will be presented visually.

DISCUSSION

The scoping review aims to expand upon the existing literature in this field. A detailed description of the evidence is required to facilitate clinical discussions and develop therapeutic protocols in a tracheostomised population. The results of this scoping review will support future research in dysphagia therapy and provide the basis for the development of best practice guidelines.

WHAT THIS PAPER ADDS

What is already known on this subject There is an abundance of evidence available regarding dysphagia therapy targeting impairments of the swallowing sequence in a variety of populations including stroke, head and neck cancer, progressive neurological conditions and critical illness. However, there is a paucity in the literature with regard to identifying dysphagia therapy for adults with a tracheostomy. What this study adds The study protocol aims to describe the methodological features that need to be extracted from existing studies to outline dysphagia therapy for adults with a tracheostomy. To the researchers' knowledge, this is the first study protocol to describe the methodological features of dysphagia therapy for people with a tracheostomy from the literature using a standardised approach (Joanna Briggs Institute and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses [PRISMA] guideline). This will ensure that the protocol is replicable for other researchers to use and demonstrates transparency in research methods. What are the clinical implications of this work? The development of a robust protocol is necessary in order to facilitate the scoping review to describe the current evidence and thus facilitate future discussions to guide clinical practice for speech and language therapists working with adults who have a tracheostomy and dysphagia. The publication of the scoping review protocol allows future clinical researchers in the area of tracheostomy and dysphagia management a blueprint with which to narrow their own research questions and it also enables replicability as the principles of good research practice dictate.

Dysphagia rehabilitation following acquired brain injury, including cerebral palsy, across the lifespan: a scoping review protocol

BACKGROUND

Swallowing impairment (dysphagia) following brain injury can lead to life-threatening complications such as dehydration, aspiration pneumonia and acute choking episodes. In adult therapeutic practice, there is research and clinical evidence to support the use of swallowing exercises to improve swallowing physiology in dysphagia; however, the use of these exercises in treating children with dysphagia is largely unexplored. Fundamental questions remain regarding the feasibility and effectiveness of using swallowing exercises with children. This review aims to outline the published literature on exercise-based treatment methods used in the rehabilitation of dysphagia secondary to an acquired brain injury across the lifespan. This will allow the range and effects of interventions utilised to be mapped alongside differential practices between adult and child populations to be formally documented, providing the potential for discussions with clinicians about which rehabilitative interventions might be appropriate for further trial in paediatrics.

METHODS

This study will use a scoping review framework to identify and systematically review the existing literature using Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) scoping review guidelines. Electronic databases (MEDLINE, PubMed, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL) and Allied and Complementary Medicine Database (AMED)), grey literature and the reference lists of key texts including systematic reviews will be searched. Information about the rehabilitation design, dosage and intensity of exercise programmes used as well as demographic information such as the age of participants and aetiology of dysphagia will be extracted. The number of articles in each area and the type of data source will be presented in a written and visual format. Comparison between the literature in adult and child populations will be discussed.

DISCUSSION

This review is unique as it directly compares dysphagia rehabilitation in adults with that of a paediatric population in order to formally identify and discuss the therapeutic gaps in child dysphagia rehabilitation. The results will inform the next stage of research, looking into the current UK-based speech and language therapy practices when working with children with acquired dysphagia.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION

Open science framework osf.io/ja4dr.

Dysphonia and dysphagia consequences of paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS)

IMPORTANCE

Paediatric inflammatory multisystem syndrome, temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2 (PIMS-TS) is a novel disease first identified in 2020. Recent cohort studies have described the complex presentation and symptomatology. This paper provides detailed description of the dysphagia and dysphonia symptoms, management, and outcome.

OBJECTIVE

To describe dysphagia and dysphonia in PIMS-TS.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Single tertiary and quaternary children's hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

All 50 children treated for paediatric multisystem inflammatory disease between April and June 2020 were included in this study.

MAIN OUTCOME(S) AND MEASURE(S)

Dysphonia: GRBAS Perceptual Severity Scores, Vocal Handicap Index scores and the Vocal Tract Discomfort Scale. Dysphagia: Functional Oral Intake Scale.

RESULTS

Fifty children met the diagnostic criteria for PIMS-TS. 33 (66%) were male. Median age was 10 years (range: 1-17). 36 (72%) were of Black, Asian or minority ethnic background. Nine (18%) required specialist assessment and management of dysphagia and/or dysphonia. Five (55%) were male with a median age of 9 years 7 months (range: 1-15 years). Symptoms typically resolved within three months. Two children presented with persisting dysphonia three months post-presentation. Neurological, inflammatory, and iatrogenic causes of dysphagia and dysphonia were identified.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Dysphonia and dysphagia are present in children with PIMS-TS. Further data is required to understand pathophysiology, estimate incidence, and determine prognostic factors. This preliminary data highlights the need for dysphagia and dysphonia screening and timely referral for specialist, multidisciplinary assessment and treatment to ensure short-term aspiration risk is managed and long-term, functional outcomes are optimised.

Rating the intelligibility of dysarthic speech amongst people with Parkinson's Disease: a comparison of trained and untrained listeners

Intelligibility of speech is a key outcome in speech and language therapy (SLT) and research. SLT students frequently participate as raters of intelligibility but we lack information about whether they rate intelligibility in the same way as the general public. This paper aims to determine if there is a difference in the intelligibility ratings made by SLT students (trained in speech related topics) compared to individuals from the general public (untrained). The SLT students were in year 2 of a BSc programme or the first 6 months of a MSc programme. We recorded 10 speakers with Parkinson's disease (PD) related speech reading aloud the words and sentences from the Assessment of Intelligibility of Dysarthric Speech. These speech recordings were rated for intelligibility by 'trained' raters and 'untrained' raters. The effort required to understand the speech was also reported. There were no significant differences in the measures of intelligibility from the trained and untrained raters for words or sentences after adjusting for speaker by including them as a covariate in the model. There was a slight increase in effort reported by the untrained raters for the sentences. This difference in reported effort was not evident with the words. SLT students can be recruited alongside individuals from the general public as naïve raters for evaluating intelligibility in people with speech disorders.