Trial reportTrials2015
Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial: tongue strengthening exercises in head and neck cancer patients, does exercise load matter?
Trial report in Trials, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Tongue-Strengthening Exercises in Healthy Older Adults: Does Exercise Load Matter? A Randomized Controlled Trial.Dysphagia · 2019Trial
- Orofacial Myofunctional Therapy: Investigating a Novel Therapeutic Approach for Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea in Children with and Without Down Syndrome-A Study Protocol.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Effect of segmental tongue function training on tongue pressure attributes in individuals with dysphagia after receiving radiotherapy for nasopharyngeal carcinoma.BMC oral health · 2024Article
- Efficacy of High-Intensity Training in Patients with Moderate to Severe Dysphagia after Glossectomy.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Oral Health Management and Rehabilitation for Patients with Oral Cancer: A Narrative Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Article
- Article
- Identifying organs at risk for radiation-induced late dysphagia in head and neck cancer patients.Clinical and translational radiation oncology · 2019Article
- Review
- A comparative study: tongue muscle performance in weightlifters and runners.Physiological reports · 2018Article
- Tongue-Strengthening Exercises in Healthy Older Adults: Specificity of Bulb Position and Detraining Effects.Dysphagia · 2018Article
- Article
- Feasibility of tongue strength measurements during (chemo)radiotherapy in head and neck cancer patients.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2017Article
- Within-Bolus Variability of the Penetration-Aspiration Scale Across Two Subsequent Swallows in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer.Dysphagia · 2017Article
- Effects of chin-up posture on the sequence of swallowing events.Head & neck · 2017Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
12 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundReduced tongue strength is an important factor contributing to early and late dysphagia in head and neck cancer patients previously treated with chemoradiotherapy. The evidence is growing that tongue strengthening exercises can improve tongue strength and swallowing function in both healthy and dysphagic subjects. However, little is known about the impact of specific features of an exercise protocol for tongue strength on the actual outcome (strength or swallowing function). Previous research originating in the fields of sports medicine and physical rehabilitation shows that the degree of exercise load is an influential factor for increasing muscle strength in the limb skeletal muscles. Since the tongue is considered a muscular hydrostat, it remains to be proven whether the same concepts will apply. METHODS/
designThis ongoing randomized controlled trial in chemoradiotherapy-treated patients with head and neck cancer investigates the effect of three tongue strengthening exercise protocols, with different degrees of exercise load, on tongue strength and swallowing. At enrollment, 51 patients whose dysphagia is primarily related to reduced tongue strength are randomly assigned to a training schedule of 60, 80, or 100% of their maximal tongue strength. Patients are treated three times a week for 8 weeks, executing 120 repetitions of the assigned exercise once per training day. Exercise load is progressively adjusted every 2 weeks. Patients are evaluated before, during and after treatment by means of tongue strength measurements, fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing and quality-of-life questionnaires. DISCUSSION: This randomized controlled trial is the first to systematically investigate the effect of different exercise loads in tongue strengthening exercise protocols. The results will allow the development of more efficacious protocols.
trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN14447678.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.