This multi-center trial will follow a cohort of Veterans with dysphagia for 8 weeks as they undergo clinically guided oropharyngeal exercises with oropharyngeal strengthening as the primary goal. Veterans with dysphagia will be assessed at three time points: baseline, 6-4 weeks post-treatment, and 8 weeks post-treatment. A non-dysphagic Veteran control group (n=50) will also undergo data collection at parallel time points, without completion of a treatment paradigm. The investigators will then compare patients to nondysphagic controls using pHRM, videofluoroscopy, diet assessment, functional reserve tests, and patient reported outcome measures. The investigators aim to 1) quantify change in pHRM measures of swallowing function resulting from dysphagia treatment; 2) determine which combination of standard of care and/or pHRM-based metrics best track with patient-reported outcome measures; and 3) develop multimodal prognostic algorithms that predict treatment success. This research will establish a precise outcome measurement paradigm suitable for dysphagia clinical care and research, thus improving clinical confidence and paving the way for a personalized medicine approach for dysphagia rehabilitation in Veterans.
