Implementation of a standardized out-of-hospital management method for Parkinson dysphagia

• Main Authors: Hongying Wei, Dongxiu Sun, Meiping Liu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Médica Brasileira
• Series: Revista da Associação Médica Brasileira
• Subjects: Parkinson disease; swallowing disorders; ambulatory care
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0104-42302017001201076&lng=en&tlng=en

Summary Objective: Our objective is to explore the effectiveness and feasibility of establishing a swallowing management clinic to implement out-of-hospital management for Parkinson disease (PD) patients with dysphagia. Method: Two-hundred seventeen (217) voluntary PD patients with dysphagia in a PD outpatient clinic were divided into a control group with 100 people, and an experimental group with 117 people. The control group was given dysphagia rehabilitation guidance. The experimental group was presented with the standardized out-of-hospital management method as overall management and information and education materials. Rehabilitation efficiency and incidence rate of dysphagia, as well as relevant complications of both groups were compared after a 6-month intervention. Results: Rehabilitation efficiency and the incidence rate of dysphagia including relevant complications of patients treated with the standardized out-of-hospital management were compared with those seen in the control group. The differences have distinct statistics meaning (p<0.01). Conclusion: Establishing a swallowing management protocol for outpatient setting can effectively help the recovery of the function of swallowing, reduce the incidence rate of dysphagia complications and improve the quality of life in patients with PD.