The American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), Rockville, Md, has collaborated with the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development (JRRD) on evidence-based systematic reviews for dysphagia care and management.
The reviews are being published in a series of articles appearing in JRRD, Volume 46, Issue 2. The journal is widely distributed in print and electronic format to national and international audiences, reaching more than 500,000 readers across six continents, says ASHA.
The reviews are based on a year-long search of the literature on the specific compensatory swallowing postures and maneuvers commonly used in the treatment of dysphagia, such as side lying, chin tuck, head rotation, effortful swallow, Mendelsohn maneuver, supraglottic swallow, and super supraglottic swallow, notes ASHA. The reviews examined the impact of these treatments on physiology, functional swallow ability, and pulmonary health for nondisordered healthy adults, neurological populations, and head and neck cancer populations, ASHA says.
ASHA reports that it was approached in Fall 2007 to be part of a task force initiated by the National Audiology and Speech Pathology VA Field Advisory Council. The group examined the state of the evidence on behavioral swallowing treatments and worked with ASHA to complete the series of the published systematic reviews.
ASHA notes: The first article outlines the details of the systematic literature search and methodology that was used to critically appraise the evidence. The next three present three separate evidenced-based systematic reviews that examine the state of the evidence on seven swallowing postures and maneuvers for disordered and nondisordered populations. The final article discusses practical applications for treating individuals with oropharyngeal dysphagia.
These articles and other recently published dysphagia research can be viewed at http://www.rehab.research.va.gov/cluster/index.html. The articles have been cross referenced in the speech, communications, functional outcomes, and geriatric rehabilitation topic clusters.
ASHA is the national professional, scientific, and credentialing association for 135,000-plus audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and speech, language, and hearing scientists.
[Source: ASHA]
