Neoplasms

All Conditions

Digestive System Diseases

Ear, Nose, and Throat Diseases

Head and Neck Neoplasms

Deglutition Disorders

Participants will complete swallowing exercises using printed materials and diary for tracking.

Participants will complete swallowing exercises using a mobile health system with surface electromyography (sEMG) biofeedback.

Treatment Arm A will consist of using pen and paper to complete the exercises. This is considered standard care. Treatment Arm B will consist of using Mobili-T to complete the exercises.

Swallowing exercise from home

Jana Rieger, PhD

Dysphagia affects 22% of those over the age of 50, which equates to 250 million people worldwide and 360,000 in Alberta. At high risk are survivors of head and neck cancer (70%). Difficulties with swallowing are not only life threatening and resource-intense, but also socially limiting. To regain swallowing function and avoid or reduce the consequences of dysphagia, patients require regular, intensive therapy over many months to strengthen swallowing muscles and improve swallow coordination. This therapy is often coupled with visual biofeedback that uses surface electromyography (sEMG). Despite evidence that swallowing exercises are effective when provided with an intensive regimen and when coupled with sEMG biofeedback, patients rarely receive it.

The primary aim of this work is to determine whether the use of a mobile system equipped with sEMG biofeedback affects adherence to home-based swallowing exercises. The secondary aim of this work is to determine if the exercise program results in improved patient reported outcomes related to dysphagia and nutrition. Our tertiary aim is to determine if previous findings of adherence can be replicated.

Sixty adults with oropharyngeal dysphagia secondary to OPSCC treatment will be enrolled in the study. This study will follow a cross over randomized design such that all participants will be provided with both types of treatment: using pen and paper (Treatment Arm A) and using the mobile health system (Treatment Arm B).

Swallowing Therapy With the Assistance of a Mobile Health Device in Head and Neck Cancer Patients: a Pan-Alberta Study

Daily adherence logs will be collected via diary forms completed using pen and paper for Treatment Arm A. For Treatment Arm B, daily adherence logs will be collected remotely, by the Mobili-T system Adherence can range from 0% (no adherence) to 100% (best adherence).

Patient questionnaire The MD Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI) is a validated and reliable self-administered questionnaire that was specifically designed for patients with a history of head and neck cancer. MDADI consists of 20 questions and results in 4 subscales: global, emotional, functional and physical.

Scores are summed, and a mean score is calculated. This mean score is multiplied by 20 to obtain a score with a range of 0 (extremely low functioning) to 100 (high functioning).

Patient questionnaire (diary entry format)

Patient questionnaire "EuroQol consists of an association (the EuroQol Group) and a foundation (the EuroQol Research Foundation). EQ-5D is a standardised measure of health status developed by the EuroQol Group to provide a simple, generic measure of health for clinical and economic appraisal." Scores range from 0 ("the worst health you can imagine") to 100 ("the best health you can imagine")

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for swallowing exercise from home