The Effect of an Auditory Rhythmic Cue on the Frequency of Rolling in Patients with Dysphagia and Parkinson's Disease

Dysphagia can negatively affect the quality of life of patients. Indeed, it leads to difficulties during oral intake (food, drinks, and medications), weight loss, dehydration, malnutrition, and limitations in social activities. Depression is frequently associated with a reduced quality of life in Parkinson's patients with swallowing disorders. Additionally, aspiration pneumonia due to aspiration events is one of the main causes of hospitalization in Parkinson's patients, and it can lead to severe complications and sometimes death.

This clinical study focuses on "rolling," also known as oropharyngeal festination, which is an involuntary, repetitive, anteroposterior movement of the tongue at the level of the soft palate, performed before the food bolus is swallowed.

Rolling is an intrinsically rhythmic movement. The few studies conducted on the subject agree, however, that freezing of gait (difficulties in initiating movement, stopping in front of an obstacle, or navigating around it) and rolling share common pathophysiological mechanisms. Freezing of gait is not limited to a deficit within the locomotor network but rather reflects a more general deficit affecting spatiotemporal coordination across various tasks, just like rolling.

The use of rhythmic auditory cueing (applying rhythmic auditory training to intrinsically rhythmic movements, such as walking, with the aim of achieving more functional movement patterns) has been evaluated in different studies and has proven effective in reducing the frequency of freezing of gait in Parkinson's patients. It thus seems relevant to apply this rehabilitation method to rolling in these same patients to study the effect of auditory cueing on rolling. The secondary objectives will mainly focus on evaluating the effect of auditory cueing on the swallowing abilities of Parkinson's patients, their physical health, and their quality of life.

Inclusion criteria

• Diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease established by a neurologist using a DAT SCAN and clinical examination;
• Presence of a swallowing disorder, specifically rolling;
• Patient affiliated with the social security system;
• Patient aged 18 years or older

Exclusion criteria

• Severe pharyngeal dysphagia (leading to aspiration with nectar and pudding textures);
• Severe cognitive impairment (score <24 on the Mini Mental Parkinson test);
• Known deafness/profound hearing loss;
• Patients under legal protection measures;
• History of reconstructive ENT surgery at the oropharyngeal level;
• Neurological history that could cause a swallowing disorder (e.g., stroke);
• Patient with a gastrostomy and no oral feeding;
• Ongoing speech therapy for swallowing;
• The patient is included in another research protocol;
• Pregnant women or women suspected of being pregnant;