The role of oral and pharyngeal motor exercises in post-stroke recovery: A scoping review.

The review did not assess risk of bias or study quality, so reported large differences may overestimate true effects. One reviewer screened titles and abstracts, so relevant trials may have been missed. Facial expression, speech and sleep-breathing evidence was limited, so the review may be more useful for dysphagia intervention design than for these functions. Many outcome measures assessed global function rather than the muscle or movement function targeted by exercise. This made it hard to link changes to the exercise. The effect sizes were not combined, so the review cannot establish whether oral and pharyngeal exercises were effective. Included trials were English-language studies in adults over 18 years with stroke, so results may not apply to children or non-English settings.

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest. Funding was from the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute Student Scholarship, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Discovery Grant, and the Canadian Partnership for Stroke Recovery Collaborative Grant.

Do not read the large group differences as proof that oral and pharyngeal exercises improve swallowing, speech, facial movement or sleep breathing. The review did not combine the trials, did not assess study quality, and the speech function outcomes did not show large differences.