Cochrane Systematic Review

Title: Rehabilitation interventions for oropharyngeal dysphagia in people with Parkinson’s disease
Good to know: In people with Parkinson’s disease and oropharyngeal dysphagia, it is uncertain whether different rehabilitation interventions improve swallowing safety, swallowing efficacy, dysphagia severity, or quality of life (very low-certainty evidence). This applies to expiratory muscle strength training compared with sham training, video-assisted swallowing therapy combined with speech-language therapy compared with speech-language therapy alone, neuromuscular electrical stimulation combined with speech-language therapy compared with sham stimulation, and tongue strength training combined with speech-language therapy compared with speech-language therapy alone.
Expiratory muscle strength training compared with sham training may make little to no difference in peak expiratory flow, and neuromuscular electrical stimulation combined with speech-language therapy compared with sham stimulation plus speech-language therapy may make little to no difference in swallowing efficacy (low-certainty evidence).
Limitations: Very low to low certainty of the evidence; insufficient information on harms.
Evidence: Cochrane review (published in January 2026); inclusion of 18 studies with 1,216 participants; comparison of rehabilitation interventions for oropharyngeal dysphagia alone or in combination with usual care, no intervention, placebo or sham, or other rehabilitation interventions.