2008 Volume 12 Issue 2 Pages 141-147
【Purpose】To report a patient with Parkinson's disease in whom sound rhythm was effective for training in eating/swallowing.
【Patient】A 66-year-old male patient with Parkinson's disease begun with tremor of the upper limb since 1998, who had been diagnosed as having aspiration pneumonia in 2006, was admitted to our hospital for a close examination of aspiration pneumonia and rehabilitation.
【Methods】The training consisted of indirect one (tongue training and Mendelsohn method, as well as neck stretch) and sound rhythm training. Each training period was 1 month with a 2-week withdrawal interval. Qualitative assessment was performed using VF (videofluoroscopic examination of swallowing) to examine aspiration and pharyngeal residue, while quantitative assessment was done based on oral transit duration (OTD) and pharyngeal transit duration (PTD). Diets for the examination were jelly and juice.
【Results】Qualitatively, improvement in pharyngeal residue and aspiration were observed after the sound rhythm training. Quantitatively, OTD was shortened from 3.97±0.54 sec to 0.94±0.08 sec (p＜0.05) when taking jelly, and from 2.76±0.39 sec to 0.94±0.02 sec (p＜0.05) when taking juice.
【Conclusions】Sound rhythm was thought to improve voluntary movement in the oral propulsive phase, which resulted in a stable deglutition movement. Rythm stimulation was effective in a patient with Parkinson's disease for training in swallowing.
