Abstract
BackgroundThis literature review explores the terminology, the neurophysiology, and the assessment of cough in general, in the framework of dysphagia and regarding head and neck cancer patients at risk for dysphagia. In the dysphagic population, cough is currently assessed perceptually during a clinical swallowing evaluation or aerodynamically.Recent findingsRecent findings have shown intra and inter‐rater disagreements regarding perceptual scoring of cough. Also, aerodynamic measurements are impractical in a routine bedside assessment. Coughing, however, is considered to be a clinically relevant sign of aspiration and dysphagia in head and cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy.ConclusionThis article surveys the literature regarding the established cough assessment and stresses the need to implement innovative methods for assessing cough in head and neck cancer patients treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy at risk for dysphagia.
Highlights
There is an increasing interest in cough testing in the field of dysphagia, cough investigation is minimal in head and neck cancer patients with radiation-associated dysphagia (RAD)
Studies focusing on objective cough features are scarce, in head and neck cancer (HNC)-patients with RAD
These patients may suffer from sensory deterioration, including an ineffective cough reflex, up to several years after treatment
Summary
Late radiation-associated dysphagia (RAD) can be defined as impaired swallowing safety and/or efficiency following intensive non-surgical. Given the importance of effective coughing in patients with RAD and considering the reliability of acoustic cough-related features found as biomarkers of respiratory diseases,[75,78,79,80] the exploration of cough sound analysis in RAD may be relevant This topic is under-researched and no conclusive results have been reported neither in patients with RAD nor in dysphagia in general.[64,111,112,113] Mills et al have investigated three measurements of the strength of voluntary and suppressed reflexive coughs in healthy individuals.[64] The measurements included airflow rate, acoustic signal, and air pressure. Given that cough features in isolation are not considered to report reliably on the swallowing function per se,[88,96] considering other acoustic features describing voice quality could provide additional information for assessing dysphagia amongst head and neck cancer patients with RAD
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
