Parkinson’s disease (PD) affects approximately one percent of the world’s population, of which, 80 percent develop dysphagia – swallowing impairments – that may lead to aspiration pneumonia, a dominant cause of death (30 to 40 percent) in individuals with PD (Fernandes, SoCal, Schuh, & Rieder, 2015; Macleod, Taylor, & Counsell, 2014; Troche et al., 2014). Because preventive measures and early intervention are critical to preventing aspiration pneumonia, this research study investigated the use of lingual strengthening exercises using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) as an intervention in early stage PD. Using an A-B-A single subject experimental design, two participants with early-stage Parkinson’s disease, a 50-year-old female and a 68-year-old male, completed intensive lingual exercise with the investigator targeting lingual pressure and lingual endurance using the IOPI Pro two times per week, and a home trainer IOPI daily on non-intervention days across four to eight weeks. Findings revealed a large variable range of baseline lingual strength prior to intervention, impacting post-treatment results, which did not reveal statistical significance for achieving maximum IOPI pressures or maximum endurance in seconds for Participant 1, but had statistical significance for maximum anterior and posterior IOPI pressures for Participant 2 before he withdrew from the study. Self-reported changes using the SWALQoL inventory yielded values that were not significant following use of the lingual strength exercises. These findings support continued investigation into use of the IOPI and IOPI home trainer as a potential intervention for improving lingual strength in adults with Parkinson’s disease.
