The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the effectiveness of a swallowing training program on patients with Parkinson’s disease, and (2) to investigate the relationship between the training effectiveness and demographic data of patients with Parkinson’s disease. The repeated measure pre-experimental design was used. Convenience sampling was employed to select the subjects who were from a neurological OPD at one medical center in northern Taiwan. Total subjects were 10. Subjects received swallowing training for 30 minutes per session, six days a week, for a total 8 weeks. The indicators of training effectiveness included frequency of choking, swallowing test of l50ml water, severity of impaired swallowing, depression scale, and body weight. The research results revealed that after performing swallowing training, there was significantly lower frequency of choking, increased speed of 150 ml water swallowing, reduced severity of impaired swallowing (p<.001; p<.001; p<.01), but no significant improvement in body weight or score on depression. Subjects self-reported significant improvement in impaired swallowing after training. Recommendations for further study based on the research findings are to increase subject numbers and to add videoflouoroscopy examination as an objective indicator to evaluate the effectiveness after swallowing training.
The purposes of this study were: (1) to investigate the effectiveness of a swallowing training program on patients with Parkinson’s disease, and (2) to investigate the relationship between the training effectiveness and demographic data of patients with Parkinson’s disease. The repeated measure pre-experimental design was used. Convenience sampling was employed to select the subjects who were from a neurological OPD at one medical center in northern Taiwan. Total subjects were 10. Subjects received swallowing training for 30 minutes per session, six days a week, for a total 8 weeks. The indicators of training effectiveness included frequency of choking, swallowing test of l50ml water, severity of impaired swallowing, depression scale, and body weight. The research results revealed that after performing swallowing training, there was significantly lower frequency of choking, increased speed of 150 ml water swallowing, reduced severity of impaired swallowing (p<.001; p<.001; p<.01), but no significant improvement in body weight or score on depression. Subjects self-reported significant improvement in impaired swallowing after training. Recommendations for further study based on the research findings are to increase subject numbers and to add videoflouoroscopy examination as an objective indicator to evaluate the effectiveness after swallowing training.