Optimizing Dysphagia Treatment Delivery in Acute Care: A Hybrid Efficacy Implementation Trial

September 4, 2026 updated by: Cara Donohue, Ph.D. CCC-SLP, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

This research study is investigating the efficacy and implementation of expiratory muscle strength training (EMST), standard of care dysphagia treatment, and intensive dysphagia treatment in critically ill adults in the acute care setting. Currently, no targeted, effective, and feasible dysphagia treatment approaches currently exist for use in critically ill adults in the acute care setting. The current study will investigate the impact of EMST, standard of care dysphagia treatment, and intensive dysphagia treatment on pulmonary function, cough function, swallow function, frailty, patient-reported swallow function, and health outcomes in critically ill adults. This study will also examine patient perceptions and clinical speech-language pathologists' perceptions of the acceptability, appropriateness, and feasibility of these interventions.

Critically ill adults will: undergo tests of breathing, cough, and swallow function, complete questionnaires about the treatment, and their swallow function, and complete their respective treatment as prescribed.

Clinical speech-language pathologists will complete questionnaires about the interventions.

A subset of critically ill adults and clinical speech-language pathologists will also have the opportunity to participate in focus groups.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study will involve two in-person research evaluations in the hospital that will last 45 minutes- 1 hour and will consist of a screening, breathing and cough testing, swallow function testing, measures of frailty, and completion of questionnaires. Following the initial research evaluation, critically ill adults will complete the intervention they are assigned to as prescribed. The exercises will take 15-20 minutes to complete and adherence to treatment will be tracked. Prior to hospital discharge and after completion of the intervention, critically ill adults will undergo a second research evaluation.

Clinical speech-language pathologists will complete questionnaires about the interventions that will take 10-15 minutes.

A subset of critically ill adults and clinical speech-language pathologists will also have the opportunity to participate in focus groups, which will take 45 minutes-1 hour.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

120

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Tennessee
      • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37232
        • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
        • Contact:

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion criteria for critically ill adults will be:

  1. Adult ≥ 18 years old
  2. Not pregnant
  3. Underwent a clinical flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) or videofluoroscopy swallow study (VFSS) with a penetration aspiration scale (PAS) score ≥ 5
  4. Hospitalized in non-neuro intensive care unit (ICU) setting at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) at some point during admission
  5. Dysphagia is primarily related to ICU stay and not other medical conditions that may cause dysphagia
  6. medically cleared with no contraindications for expiratory muscle strength training (EMST) or other treatments
  7. Cognitive capacity to follow basic directions
  8. Willing to undergo testing and treatment for the study.

Inclusion criteria for speech-language pathologists (SLPs) will be:

  1. Adult acute care speech-language pathologist who works at VUMC.
  2. Willing to complete surveys and/or participate in a focus group.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST)
Critically ill adults will complete EMST as prescribed.
Behavioral: Expiratory muscle strength training (EMST)
EMST devices will be set to 60% of participants' maximum expiratory pressure. Participants will complete training 5 days per week by performing 5 sets of 5 repetitions.
Active Comparator: Standard of Care Dysphagia Treatment
Critically ill adults will receive dysphagia treatment per standard of care.
Behavioral: Standard of Care Dysphagia Treatment
Critically ill adults will perform one set of ten repetitions of each exercise recommended by their clinical speech-language pathologist. Enrolled participants will complete up to two training sessions per week (0-2 pending normal clinical care course) with a clinical speech-language pathologist
Experimental: Intensive Dysphagia Treatment
Critically ill adults will complete intensive dysphagia treatment as prescribed.
Behavioral: Intensive Dysphagia Treatment
Critically ill adults will perform one set of ten repetitions of each exercise (effortful swallow, Masako maneuver, Mendelsohn maneuver, chin tuck against resistance, tongue strengthening exercises, and may also participate in bolus driven therapy). Enrolled participants will complete five training sessions per week (at least 3 days/week with the PI or a trained member of the research team and up to 2 days/week with a member of the clinical speech-language pathology team).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Dynamic Imaging Grade of Swallowing Toxicity Scale (DIGEST) Grades
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
The DIGEST is a validated, 5-point ordinal rating scale that quantifies global pharyngeal swallow function.
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Change in Penetration Aspiration Scale Scores
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
The penetration aspiration scale is a validated 8-point ordinal rating scale that measures the depth of airway invasion and the patient's response during swallowing. Scores range from 1 to 8 with a score of 1 indicating a safe swallow (best score) and 8 indicating silent aspiration (worst score).
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in maximum expiratory pressure
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
A measure of respiratory strength while breathing out
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Change in cough peak expiratory flow
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
A measure of cough strength
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Grip strength
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Change in Grip strength be used to quantify clinical frailty using a digital hand dynamometer.
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Change in Swallowing and Eating Related Fatigue Questionnaire (SERF)
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Scores on the SERF range 0-48 with higher scores indicating greater impairment.
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Change in Screening for Oral Frailty Tool (SOFT)
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Oral frailty will be assessed as present/absent using the Screening for Oral Frailty Tool.
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Change in Eating Assessment Tool 10 (EAT-10)
Time Frame: pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
The EAT-10 contains 10 questions (score range: 0-40), higher scores indicate greater impairment.
pre-treatment (baseline), and post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Acceptability of Intervention Measure (AIM)
Time Frame: post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
A measure of how acceptable an intervention is with scores ranging from 4-20.
post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Intervention Appropriateness Measure (IAM)
Time Frame: post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
A measure of how appropriate an intervention is with scores ranging from 4-20.
post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
Feasibility of Intervention Measure (FIM)
Time Frame: post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks
A measure of how feasible an intervention is with scores ranging from 4-20.
post-treatment prior to hospital discharge, assessed up to 2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Cara Donohue, PhD CCC-SLP, Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

April 1, 2027

Primary Completion (Estimated)

October 1, 2028

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 1, 2029

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 22, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 29, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

July 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

September 9, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 4, 2026

Last Verified

September 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 261042

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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