Background
Swallowing disorders (dysphagia) are common in people with neurological conditions including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Dysphagia can result in decreased quality of life through use of modified foods and fluids as well as aspiration pneumonia – a leading cause of death for people with PD. There are a range of interventions suggested to improve swallowing but systematic reviews and meta-analysis on which intervention is best, are difficult because studies use different outcomes, outcome measures and timepoints. As part of developing a Core Outcome Set for Dysphagia in PD (COS-DIP) project, Hirschwald et al., (2022) confirmed that different outcomes and outcome measurement instruments and time-points are used in clinical trials in dysphagia in PD. The final COS-DIP will produce 5-6 core outcomes that must be measured in all prospective trials for dysphagia in PD. The current stage of the COS-DIP project involves asking key stakeholders what outcomes matter most to them. Work obtaining the perspectives of people with PD, carers and family is underway.
Aims and Objectives
The aim of this project is to obtain the perspectives of international speech and language therapists (SLTs) – a discipline involved clinically in this area – on what outcomes are important to them in treating dysphagia in PD. The objective is to combine these suggested outcomes with those obtained from people with PD and caregivers. All suggested outcomes will be used in a Delphi consensus study to obtain agreement on the final 5 core outcome set (COS). Hypothesis
There will be a wide range of responses from SLTs internationally that may or may not differ from those in the literature or provided by people with PD and caregivers.
Implications
Availability of SLT perspectives within the COS is important. The final COS will improve clinical trials for dysphagia in PD and significantly reduce research waste.