I am a Speech-Language Pathologist from Delaware and I am currently pursuing my SLP.D. As part of the course, we are required to create a blog on our dissertation topic. I hope this topic attracts some attention and feedback! My topic is not narrowed down as much as I would like (or need) it to be however, hopefully it is a good start. Enjoy!
Dissertation Topic: Cervical Auscultation
My area of interest and research includes the use of cervical auscultation in the diagnosis of swallowing disorders. First introduced decades ago, cervical auscultation remains a controversial diagnostic method in the field of Speech-Language Pathology. The questions of its usefulness, accuracy, and training requirements to implement, remain largely unanswered. Cervical auscultation is a method employed by some Speech-Language Pathologists in order to subjectively diagnose the presence of dysphagia. This is completed by using a stethoscope to auscultate the lateral portion of the anterior neck over the thyroid cartilage and listen to the acoustics of swallowing physiology (Takahashi, Groher, & Michi, 1994). Unfortunately, cervical auscultation has little evidence-based support on accuracy in diagnosing the presence of dysphagia. Further, the training requirements to implement this technique also remain ambiguous. Further research is needed to examine these research deficits.
References:
Takahashi, K., Groher, M.E., & Michi, K. (1994). Methodology for detecting
swallowing sounds. Dysphagia 9(1), 54-62
