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Objectives: Although facial transplantation is considered effective for restoring facial appearance, research on speech outcomes following surgery is limited. More research is critically needed to inform patients of expected rates and extent of recovery, and to develop interventions aimed at improving speech outcomes. Methods: Four patients in early recovery (3 weeks–24 months postsurgery) and three patients in late recovery (36–60 months postsurgery) were included. Clinical measures of speech recovery, including speech intelligibility measured using the Sentence Intelligibility Test, a lip strength testing device (Iowa Oral Performance Instrument), and kinematic measures of lip and jaw function measured using high-resolution 3D optical motion capture were used to describe the rate and extent of functional speech and lip recovery, describe and compare the rate of functional speech recovery and kinematic lip and jaw changes in early and late stages of recovery, and explore the association between kinematic measures and functional speech. Results: Speech intelligibility, speaking rate, and lip strength were below normative values in the first 2 years of postsurgery. Participants in the first 2 years of recovery demonstrated steeper slopes of improvement in clinical and kinematic measures than participants in the later stages of recovery (36–64 months). Gains in jaw range of movement and gains in lip speed and range of movement were significantly correlated with rates of sentence intelligibility improvement. Gains in lip strength were not associated with functional speech improvement. Conclusions: These findings motivate ongoing work aimed at developing interventions for improving motor speech function in this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: For patients diagnosed with ALS, dysphagia can result in aspiration, malnutrition, and mortality. The purpose of this study was to develop a clinical prediction model capable of identifying patients with ALS at imminent risk for developing swallowing complications. Methods: A retrospective cohort study using the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials Database (PRO-ACT) was conducted. After dividing the PRO-ACT database into development and validation cohorts with dysphagia defined from the ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALSFRS), a multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression model estimated the probability of dysphagia at 3, 6, and 12-months with subsequent evaluation of model discrimination and calibration. Results: With 2057 participants in the development cohort and 1891 in the validation cohort, the Cox model included 7 clinical variables: spinal-onset; bulbar, fine and gross motor ALSFRS subscale scores; respiratory impairment; functional progression rate; and time from diagnosis. The cumulative incidence of dysphagia was 18% at 3-months, 29% at 6-months, and 45% at 12-months. The mean predicted probability of dysphagia development ranged from 4.5% in the bottommost risk decile to 40% in the topmost decile at 3 months, 10%–72% at 6 months, and 25%–93% at 12 months. In the validation cohort, the model had good discrimination and calibration with an optimism corrected c-statistic of 0.70 and calibration slope of 0.96. Conclusions: The ALS dysphagia risk score can be used to identify patients with ALS at high risk for self-reported dysphagia development who would benefit from a comprehensive swallowing assessment and proactive dysphagia management strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction/aims: Dysphagia worsens mortality and quality of life for persons diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), yet our understanding of its incidence and timing remains limited. In this study we sought to estimate dysphagia incidence and dysphagia-free survival over time.Methods: Using data from the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials Database, we compared characteristics of persons with and without dysphagia upon study entry. To account for competing mortality risk, we used Kaplan-Meier curves to estimate the cumulative incidence of dysphagia and the median number of days until the development of dysphagia or death in those without dysphagia at study entry.Results: Patients with dysphagia upon study entry were more likely to have bulbar onset and had faster rates of functional decline and shorter diagnostic delays. The cumulative incidence of new-onset dysphagia was 44% at 1 year and 64% at 2 years after trial enrollment for those with spinal onset, and 85% and 92% for those with bulbar onset. The median duration of dysphagia-free survival after trial enrollment was 11.5 months for those with spinal onset and 3.2 months for those with bulbar onset.Discussion: Our findings underscore the high risk for dysphagia development and support the need for early dysphagia referral and evaluation to minimize the risk of serious dysphagia-related complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this study was to determine whether there was knowledge gain and behavioral change by produce growers within the North Central Region (NCR) of the United States who participated in the Produce Safety Alliance (PSA) Grower Training. Over a 2-year period, the 25-question knowledge assessment was administered to participants (n = 2,286) at the beginning and at the end of each 8-h training to measure knowledge gain. Behavioral change was assessed using a survey 12 months after the training. Average scores measuring the participants' knowledge increased significantly from pretest (16.1 of 25, 68%) to posttest (20.0 of 25, 80%) (P = 0.001). On average, participants in trainings not targeting special populations (n = 1,735) improved their scores more than participants in trainings for special populations (n = 509) (P = 0.001). Of growers, 199 (72%) of 276 who responded to the follow-up survey indicated that they had made a behavioral change, such as writing or modifying farm food safety plans (n = 108), implementing different training for employees on food safety (n = 108), and modifying food record-keeping systems (n = 98). The results indicate that behavioral change did not correlate with knowledge gain. Educational materials should be developed to encourage both knowledge and behavioral change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite signs of facial nerve recovery within a few months following face transplantation, speech deficits persist for years. Behavioral speech modifications (e.g., slower-than-normal speaking rate and increased loudness) have shown promising potential to enhance speech intelligibility in populations with dysarthric speech. However, such evidence-based practice approach is lacking in clinical management of speech in individuals with facial transplantation. Because facial transplantation involves complex craniofacial reconstruction and facial nerve coaptation, it is unknown to what extent individuals with face transplant are capable of adapting their motor system to task-specific articulatory demands. The purpose of this study was to identify the underlying articulatory mechanisms employed by individuals with face transplantation in response to speech modification cues at early and late stages of neuromotor recovery. In addition, we aimed to identify speech modifications that conferred improved speech clarity. Participants were seven individuals who underwent full or partial facial vascularized composite allografts that included lips and muscles of facial animation and were in early (~2 months) or late (~42 months) stages of recovery. Participants produced repetitions of the sentence "Buy Bobby a puppy" in normal, fast, loud, and slow speech modifications. Articulatory movement traces were recorded using a 3D optical motion capture system. Kinematic measures of average speed (mm/s) and range of movement (mm3) were extracted from the lower lip (± jaw) marker. Two speech language pathologists rated speech clarity for each speaker using a visual analog scale (VAS) approach. Results demonstrated that facial motor capacity increased from early to late stages of recovery. While individuals in the early group exhibited restricted capabilities to adjust their motor system based on the articulatory demands of each speech modification, individuals in the late group demonstrated faster speed and larger-than-normal range of movement for loud speech, and slower speed and larger-than-normal range of movement for slow speech. In addition, subjects in both groups showed overreliance on jaw rather than lip articulatory function across all speech modifications, perhaps as a compensatory strategy to optimize articulatory stability and maximize speech function. Finally, improved speech clarity was associated with loud speech in both stages of recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Facial transplantation is a relatively new option for individuals with severe facial disfigurements. Clinical case studies on existing patients indicate many instances of persistent facial motor impairment for facial expression, speech, and swallowing. These preliminary findings motivate additional research on the impact of lip-strengthening exercises following facial transplantation. Method: In this study, we assessed the efficacy of an 8-week, biofeedback-driven, lip closure–strengthening exercise program in a single patient 1-year status post–full facial transplantation. Exercise was at 60% of peak strength. Outcome measures included instrumental measures of lip strength and mobility, clinical measures of speech, and patient-reported outcomes in feeding and facial expression. Results: Results revealed improvements in labial strength, speed of lip movement, and range of motion during speech. A 3-point improvement in sentence speech intelligibility was also observed following strengthtraining exercise. The patient reported improvements in her ability to drink from a straw and communicate via facial expression. Conclusion: These preliminary findings motivate additional research on the efficacy of lip-strengthening exercises following facial transplantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]