Search

Objective: To evaluate the effects of direct swallowing training (DST) alone and combined with oral sensorimotor stimulation (OSMS) on oral feeding ability in very preterm infants., Design: Blinded, parallel group, randomised controlled trial (1:1:1)., Setting: Neonatal intensive care unit of a South Korean tertiary hospital., Participants: Preterm infants born at <32 weeks of gestation who achieved full tube feeding., Interventions: Two sessions per day were provided according to the randomly assigned groups (control: two times per day sham intervention; DST: DST and sham interventions, each once a day; DST+OSMS: DST and OSMS interventions, each once a day)., Primary Outcome: Time from start to independent oral feeding (IOF)., Results: Analyses were conducted in 186 participants based on modified intention-to-treat (63 control; 63 DST; 60 DST+OSMS). The mean time from start to IOF differed significantly between the control, DST and DST+OSMS groups (21.1, 17.2 and 14.8 days, respectively, p=0.02). Compared with non-intervention, DST+OSMS significantly shortened the time from start to IOF (effect size: -0.49; 95% CI: -0.86 to -0.14; p=0.02), whereas DST did not. The proportion of feeding volume taken during the initial 5 min, an index of infants' actual feeding ability when fatigue is minimal, increased earlier in the DST+OSMS than in the DST., Conclusions: In very preterm infants, DST+OSMS led to the accelerated attainment of IOF compared with non-intervention, whereas DST alone did not. The effect of DST+OSMS on oral feeding ability appeared earlier than that of DST alone., Trial Registration Number: ClinicalTrials.gov Registry (NCT02508571)., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2022. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Aim: The present study investigated the effects of two types of lingual exercise (tongue-hold swallowing and tongue-pressure resistance training) on oral muscle strength, salivary flow rate and subjective oral health of the elderly., Methods: We randomly assigned 74 elderly adults (≥65 years) to three groups (tongue-hold swallowing, tongue-pressure resistance training and control groups). Each group participated in 8 weeks of their appropriately prescribed intervention. We measured anterior tongue strength, posterior tongue strength, lip strength, salivary flow rate and Oral Health Impact Profile-14 score before and after 8 weeks. Differences before and after intervention were observed with a paired sample t-test. Moreover, analyses of covariance and variance were performed to determine the differences in the measured values between the groups., Results: The tongue-hold swallowing group showed improvement in both anterior and posterior tongue strength, while the tongue-pressure resistance training group showed a significant increase in only anterior tongue strength. Both the tongue-hold swallowing and tongue-pressure resistance training groups showed increased salivary secretion, with the tongue-pressure resistance training group showing a higher level of salivary secretion. However, the difference in the subjective oral health scores before and after the intervention was not significant., Conclusions: The two lingual exercises strengthened some aspects of tongue muscles and increased the salivary flow rate, with more salivary secretion in the tongue-pressure resistance training group than in the tongue-hold swallowing group. Any evidence of the lingual exercises being able to enhance subjective oral health could not be found. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; ••: ••-••., (© 2020 Japan Geriatrics Society.)

Background: Tongue strengthening exercise (TSE) is a remedial method for the training of swallowing-related muscles in the oropharyngeal phase. However, clinical evidence of its effectiveness is insufficient., Methods: To investigate the effect of TSE on the oropharyngeal muscles associated with swallowing in older adults, in this study, 40 elder adults living in the community were recruited and assigned to 2 groups. The experimental group performed a TSE with a 1-repetition maximum resistance level of 70%. The exercise was divided into an isometric and isotonic part. The control group did not perform an exercise. We measured the muscle strength and thickness of the tongue and suprahyoid muscles using an Iowa Oral Performance Instrument and ultrasonography., Results: The experimental group showed a statistically significant increase in tongue muscle strength and thickness in the oral phase (P = .001 and <.001, respectively). In the pharyngeal phase, the experimental group showed a statistically significant increase in the mylohyoid and digastric muscles (suprahyoid muscles) (P = .045 and .019, respectively). The control group showed no statistically significant changes., Conclusion: TSE is effective in increasing the strength and thickness of the oropharyngeal muscles of elder adults and is recommended for those who are vulnerable to swallowing difficulties.

We investigated the functional changes in swallowing and voluntary coughing before and after tracheostomy decannulation among stroke patients who had undergone a tracheostomy. We also compared these functions between stroke patients who underwent tracheostomy tube removal and those who did not within 6 months of their stroke. Seventy-seven stroke patients who had undergone a tracheostomy were enrolled. All patients were evaluated by videofluoroscopic swallowing studies and a peak flow meter through the oral cavity serially until 6 months after their stroke. During the intensive rehabilitation period, if a patient satisfied the criteria for tracheostomy tube removal, the tube was removed. The patients were divided into the 'decannulated' group and the 'non-decannulated' group according to their tracheostomy tube removal status. In the decannulated group, swallowing function did not change before and after tracheostomy decannulation; however, cough function was significantly improved after decannulation. Although both groups exhibited functional improvement in swallowing and coughing over time, the improvement in the decannulated group was more significant than the improvement in the non-decannulated group. Our results revealed that stroke patients who had better functional improvement in swallowing and coughing were more likely to be potential candidates for tracheostomy decannulation. Stroke patients who recovered from neurogenic dysphagia, they were no longer affected by the mechanical effect of the tracheostomy tube on swallowing function. This study suggests that if patients show improvement in swallowing and coughing after their stroke, a multidisciplinary approach to tracheostomy decannulation would be needed to achieve better rehabilitation outcomes.

As part of the aging process, multiple oral physiologic changes occur and these changes may cause individuals to reduce food intake or switch the types of food texture. Thus, the need to develop food products for the elderly has increased. To evaluate the suitability of the food products for the elderly, the evaluation method should be verified and it is important to identify the parameters of mastication and swallowing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare the differences of mastication and swallowing parameters between the young adults and the elderly depending on the varying hardness of rice food product. Subjects included 20 young adults and 40 elderly and bolus transit times of video-fluoroscopic swallowing study (VFSS) were used. Four types of rice products with different hardness were provided including cooked rice, soft-boiled rice, rice gruel and thin rice gruel. In the elderly group, the chewing number, oral processing time, post-faucial aggregation time, valleculae aggregation time (VAT), first subsequence duration and total duration were significantly different according to the changes in food hardness. Of the bolus transit times, the VAT and the second subsequence duration (S-S2) were significantly different between the two groups. These results suggest that VAT and S-S2, key VFSS parameters, as well as the chewing number and total duration are useful tools for evaluating the effect of aging on mastication and swallowing of solid foods., Practical Applications: In Korea, the aging population is rapidly increasing. According to recent surveys, a large number of elderly Koreans have reported chewing difficulties and many of them are in the state of under-nutrition. As aging progresses, multiple physiologic changes occur in mastication and swallowing functions. These changes may cause individuals to reduce their food intake or switch to soft food products. Therefore, the development of texture-modified food products for the elderly is needed and they should be developed based on the understandings of the physiology of mastication and swallowing according to different rheological properties of food products consumed in Korea, which are quite different from those of the western countries. In this study, we compared the differences of mastication and swallowing parameters between the young adults and the elderly depending on the varying hardness of rice food product., (© 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify differences in orofacial muscle strength according to age and sex in healthy East Asian adults., Design: A total of 382 subjects participated in this study (age range, 20-93 yrs). They were divided into two groups according to sex (male, n = 192; female, n = 190). The two groups were further divided on the basis of age into young (20-39 yrs), middle-aged (40-59 yrs), old (60-79 yrs), and very old (>80 yrs) groups. Assessments were performed using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument. Measures included the anterior tongue elevation pressure, posterior tongue elevation pressure, buccodental pressure, and lip pressure., Results: All measures were higher in the male than in the female subjects (P < 0.001). The male subjects showed noticeably lower tongue strength in the old and very old groups relative to the young and middle-aged groups (P < 0.01); the female subjects showed a similar result in the very old group as compared with all younger groups., Conclusions: Significant age-related differences in orofacial muscle strength were observed mainly of the tongue musculature. The male subjects had significantly lower tongue strength in the seventh decade or older as compared with the younger individuals, whereas in the female subjects, a similar result was noted, although tongue strength was not significantly lower until the ninth decade.

Background: The age-related effects on various aspects of swallowing have been reported in studies on the temporal relationship between hyolaryngeal movement and bolus location, as well as the extent of hyolaryngeal movement. However, few studies have described the temporal and spatial relationships concurrently., Objective: The main purpose of this study was to define the kinematics of the hyoid bone and epiglottis, during swallowing, on the temporal and spatial relationships concurrently in healthy subjects, and to investigate the influence of aging on hyolaryngeal movement., Methods: We performed a two-dimensional motion analysis of the hyoid bone and epiglottis using videofluoroscopy images in 69 normal subjects. The trajectories of the hyolaryngeal movement and passage of a bolus were superimposed to form one plot. Temporal measurements included initiation and duration of the hyoid bone and epiglottis movement compared to their movement with the bolus. The spatial measurements included vertical and horizontal excursion of the hyoid bone, and the rotational angle of the epiglottis., Results: The duration of supraglottis closure, and the maximal vertical excursion of the hyoid bone were increased in older subjects, more than 65 years of age, compared to younger subjects (p<0.05). Other temporal and spatial measurements were not statistically significant in the comparisons among the age groups. The vertical distance of the cervical vertebra was related to vertical excursion of the hyoid bone (p=0.002), and the horizontal distance from the chin to the cervical vertebra was related to the horizontal excursion of the hyoid bone (p=0.003)., Conclusion: This paper describes a method for assessing temporal and spatial relationships of hyolaryngeal movement, and the passage of a bolus during swallowing. The two-dimensional kinematic swallowing motion analyses that were developed provided useful data that changed with age., (Copyright (c) 2010 S. Karger AG, Basel.)