Profiling of communication and swallowing in individuals with motor neuron disorders

Abstract

Background: newlineMotor neuron disorders are rare degenerative conditions which affect upper and lower newlinemotor neurons of the body. When it involves the spinal region, walking, writing and newlinetrunk control is affected while dysarthria and dysphagia are caused due to loss of neurons newlinein the bulbar region. Dysarthria and dysphagia could have detrimental effects on an newlineindividual s quality of life as it leads to poor socialization and isolation. Review of newlineliterature revealed sparse research on communication and swallowing profiles, hence a newlineneed was felt to study the same in these individuals. newlineResults: newlinePercentage analysis revealed high occurrence of ALS, male predominance, mixed newline(flaccid spastic) dysarthria and oropharyngeal dysphagia. On Kruscal Wallis and Mann newlineWhitney U test, age and gender had no significant effects on disease severity, speech, newlineswallowing and quality of life (p gt 0.05). Overall disease showed significant difference newlinebetween mild and severe form of disease (p lt 0.01) while bulbar disease revealed newlinesystematic deterioration between mild, moderate and end stage disease (p lt 0.01). Case newlinestudies revealed variable patterns of improvement and/or deterioration. Researcher newlinecould improve swallowing function on one case, while intervention could be modified newlineaccording to change in communication and swallowing functions with the disease newlineprogression. Finally, profiles based on bulbar severity were formulated. newlineConclusion: newlineMotor neuron disorders poses extreme challenges for speech language pathologists due newlineto its progressive nature. This study highlights the role of speech language pathologists newlinein palliative care. Speech language pathologists not only play a role in improving newlinefunctionality in these patients, but also contribute maintaining quality of life by newlinemodifying intervention modalities with disease progression. The formulated profile newlinecould be a helpful guideline to understand the characteristics of communication and newlineswallowing, thereby further aiding in intervention planning.