Author: Jie Wang1,2, Gaiyan Li1, Shanshan Ding1, Long Yu1, Yan Wang1, Lei Qiao1, Qilin Wu1, Weidong Ni1, Hang Fan1, Qianyun Zheng1, Ying Zhang1, Hongli Li3
Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Department of Rehabilitation, Shanghai Xuhui Central Hospital, Shanghai, China.
<sup>2</sup> School of Kinesiology, Shanghai University of Sport, Shanghai, China.
<sup>3</sup> Department of Rehabilitation, Shanghai Shenyuan Rehabilitation Hospital, Shanghai, China.
Conference/Journal: Clin Rehabil
Date published: 2021 Feb 1
Other:
Special Notes: doi: 10.1177/0269215521992473. , Word Count: 262
Objective:
The aim of the study was to investigate whether liuzijue qigong could improve the ability of respiratory control and comprehensive speech in patients with stroke dysarthria.
Design:
A randomized controlled trial.
Setting:
The research was carried out in the department of rehabilitation.
Participants:
Altogether, a total of 98 stroke patients with dysarthria participated in the study.
Interventions:
Patients were randomly divided into two groups (the experimental group: basic articulation + liuzijue qigong, 48 patients or the control group: basic articulation + traditional breathing training, 50 patients). All therapies were conducted once a day, five times a week for three weeks.
Main measures:
Primary outcome measure: Speech breathing level of the modified Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment. Secondary outcome measures: the modified Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment, maximum phonation time, maximal counting ability, /s/, /z/, s/z ratio, and the loudness level. All outcome measures were assessed twice (at baseline and after three weeks).
Results:
At three weeks, There were significant difference between the two groups in the change of speech breathing level (81% vs 66%, P = 0.011), the modified Frenchay Dysarthria Assessment (5.54 (4.68-6.40) vs 3.66 (2.92-4.40), P = 0.001), maximum phonation time (5.55 (4.92-6.18) vs 3.01(2.31-3.71), P < 0.01), maximal counting ability (3.08(2.45-3.71) vs 2.10 (1.53-2.67), P = 0.018), and /s/ (3.08 (2.39-3.78) vs 1.87 (1.23-2.51), P = 0.004), while no significant differences were found in the change of /z/ (3.08 (2.31-3.86) vs 2.10 (1.5-2.64), P = 0.08), s/z ratio (1.26 (0.96-1.55) vs 1.03 (0.97-1.09), P = 0.714), and the change of loudness level (69% vs 60%, P = 0.562).
Conclusions:
Liuzijue qigong, combined with basic articulation training, could improve the respiratory control ability, as well as the comprehensive speech ability of stroke patients with dysarthria.
Trial registration:
ChiCTR-INR-16010215.
Keywords: Stroke; dysarthria; liuzijue; respiratory.
PMID: 33517744 DOI: 10.1177/0269215521992473