Effect of swallowing training on swallowing disorders in Parkinson's disease.

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether swallowing training improves swallowing function in patients with Parkinson's disease. Ten patients (5 males, 5 females) who had symptoms of dysphagia and 12 healthy volunteers were studied. The initiation time of the swallowing reflex, the "premotor time" (PMT), was calculated from an electromyogram of the submental muscles before and after swallowing training. Patients with Parkinson's disease had a significantly longer PMT (p = 0.0014) than did healthy controls. There was no correlation between PMT and the duration of the disease (r = -0.146; p = 0.6867) or the patient's age (r = 0.602; p = 0.0653). After swallowing training, the patients' PMTs decreased significantly (p = 0.0051).