Nicole Schaen-Heacock, M.S., CCC-SLP
Doctoral Student
Ciucci Laboratory
Communication Sciences and Disorders, UW-Madison
Impacts of Aging on Pre-Treatment Swallow Function in Patients with Head and Neck Cancer
Changes to swallow function occur as part of the natural aging process (presbyphagia). Simultaneously, patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer (HNC) often experience impaired swallow function (dysphagia) as a consequence of oncologic treatment. Alterations to safety and efficiency of swallowing have significant impacts on both health status and quality of life. Yet, the relationship between aging and oncologic treatment-related impacts to swallow function in this patient population is relatively unexplored. This work aims to assess how aging may impact swallow-related outcomes in patients diagnosed with HNC via comparison of pre-treatment differences in older vs younger participants within this patient population.
Affiliations: This work was completed through the Swallowing and Salivary Bioscience Lab (PI: Nicole Rogus-Pulia, PhD, CCC-SLP) and the Geriatric Research Education and Clinical Center at the William S Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital as part of the presenter’s Clinical Fellowship Year (2022-2023). The presenter is a current doctoral student in the Ciucci Lab at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.