Background
The
Conclusion
These findings indicate that as the percentage of optimal respiratory-swallow phase patterns increase, swallowing impairment decreases in the HNC patient population.
Results
Spearman correlation coefficients revealed significant negative correlations between optimal respiratory-swallow phase pattern and objective measures of swallowing impairment: penetration-aspiration scale max, pharyngeal total, and oral total scores with Spearman correlation coefficients of -0.53 (z .001), -0.50 (P < .001), and -0.43 (P = .002), respectively. Optimal respiratory-swallow pattern was significantly decreased (P = .03) in patients after cancer treatment compared with another patient group before cancer treatment.