Drooling in Parkinson’s disease: a case for divided attention

Is drooling in Parkinson’s disease affected by divided attention? A cross-sectional study

Status

Active, not recruiting

Phases

Unknown

Study type

Observational

Source

ISRCTN

Registry ID

ISRCTN11045864

Enrollment

Registered

2016-02-01

Start date

2015-10-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2018-06-18

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Parkinson's disease Nervous System Diseases Parkinson's disease

Interventions

Baseline condition: 30 minute observation of saliva swallows at rest in a chair. To avoid unintentionally priming the client to monitor their saliva swallows no spoken reference to saliva swallowing w

card

space). They then have to press a button for yes if related or a button for no if unrelated. The response item will be presented after 250 ms and for 3000 ms or until the person responds. There will b

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: 1. Patients under the care of the Northumbria Parkinson's Disease Services or South Tyneside Speech and Language Therapy Service with a diagnosis of Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease 2. Have a self reported problem with daytime drooling on the Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating scale subset 2.6 saliva question (Movement Disorder Society 2008) 3. Able to participate in the tasks in the proposed study protocol 4. Giving fully informed consent

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: 1. Patient unable, for cognitive or physical reasons, to comply with the project protocol 2. Patient has had botulinum toxin therapy or surgery on their saliva glands

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
1. Frequency of saliva swallows, using a swallow detection device. This is a small microphone headset which is worn in the ear and is connected to a small recording device. Software in the recording device allows identification of swallowing sounds, which can then be counted and compared. 2. Observed drooling with and without cognitive load All subjects will complete a 30 minute baseline assessment for drooling at rest and then then another 30 minute assessment whilst completing a series of cognitive tasks involving reading, listening and decision making.	—

Measure

Time frame

1. Frequency of saliva swallows, using a swallow detection device. This is a small microphone headset which is worn in the ear and is connected to a small recording device. Software in the recording device allows identification of swallowing sounds, which can then be counted and compared. 2. Observed drooling with and without cognitive load All subjects will complete a 30 minute baseline assessment for drooling at rest and then then another 30 minute assessment whilst completing a series of cognitive tasks involving reading, listening and decision making.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Self report of drooling, measured using the Unified Parkinson's disease rating scale questionnaire	—

Countries

United Kingdom

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ISRCTN (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026