Dysphagia is prevalent in oesophageal cancer with signifcant clinical and psychosocial complications. The purpose of this study was i) to examine the impact of exercise-based dysphagia rehabilitation on clinical and quality of life outcomes in this population and ii) to identify key rehabilitation components that may inform future research in this area. | Gillman et al. BMC Cancer 2022 22 53 https s12885-021-09155-y RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Exercise-based dysphagia rehabilitation for adults with oesophageal cancer a systematic review Anna Gillman1 Michelle Hayes2 Greg Sheaf3 Margaret Walshe1 John V. Reynolds4 and Julie Regan1 Abstract Background Dysphagia is prevalent in oesophageal cancer with significant clinical and psychosocial complications. The purpose of this study was i to examine the impact of exercise-based dysphagia rehabilitation on clinical and quality of life outcomes in this population and ii to identify key rehabilitation components that may inform future research in this area. Methods Randomised control trials RCT non-RCTs cohort studies and case series were included. 10 databases CINAHL Complete MEDLINE EMBASE Web of Science CENTRAL and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Open- Grey PROSPERO RIAN and SpeechBITE 3 clinical trial registries and relevant conference abstracts were searched in November 2020. Two independent authors assessed articles for eligibility before completing data extraction qual- ity assessment using ROBINS-I and Downs and Black Checklist followed by descriptive data analysis. The primary outcomes included oral intake respiratory status and quality of life. All comparable outcomes were combined and discussed throughout the manuscript as primary and secondary outcomes. Results Three single centre non-randomised control studies involving 311 participants were included. A meta- analysis could not be completed due to study heterogeneity. SLT-led post-operative dysphagia intervention led to sig- nificantly earlier start to oral intake and reduced length of post-operative hospital stay. No studies found a reduction in aspiration pneumonia rates and no studies included patient reported or quality of life outcomes. Of the reported secondary outcomes swallow prehabilitation resulted in significantly improved swallow efficiency following oesoph- ageal surgery compared .
