Abstract
Purpose To analyze the effect of the age group and food's consistency according to the qualitative and quantitative ultrasonographic parameters in the oropharyngeal swallowing. Ultrasonographic evaluations of swallowing were performed in 100 health individuals (divided into four groups, whose age brackets were 20-60 years), using liquid and mashed consistencies. For qualitative analysis, five steps were taken into account during the oropharyngeal swallowing. The following parameters were regarded in the quantitative analysis: duration of the tongue propulsion and maximum displacement of the hyoid bone during swallowing. In the qualitative ultrasonographic analysis, all the participants, independent to age groups, presented the same pattern of the tongue position (1, 2, and 5 phases), whereas in phase 3 there was a great variability within participants of the wavelike movement of the tongue. In phase 4, the displacement of the hyoid bone increased as a consequence of the consistency of the food. In the quantitative ultrasonographic analysis, a significant effect regarding age (p=0.03), consistence (p=0.00), as well as the age*consistency interaction was observed (p=0.03). Overall, the group of individuals between 20 and 30 years (G1) differed from the other groups and pudding consistency increased the measure of duration and displacement. The ultrasonography of the movement of the tongue proved itself as a viable instrument to describe the oropharyngeal swallowing. Parameters such as age and food consistency modify the USG images of movement of the tongue in normal subjects should be considered in ultrasound examination of oropharyngeal swallowing.
Highlights
Among the different technologies used to assess instrumental swallowing, regarding the cost/benefit relation, the ultrasound of tongue movement stands out as a viable instrument for the investigation of orofacial functions, especially for the investigation of oropharyngeal swallowing[1].The advantages of using the ultrasound technique may be described in terms of equipment cost, portability, real-time imaging, setting for the examination, comfort of the patient, and safety to health
The development of this study aims at contributing for and objective and quantitative assessment of the oropharyngeal swallowing, providing measures for healthy individuals that may be used as risk predictors for dysphagia in clinical groups
Ultrasound assessments of 100 healthy adult individuals were carried out for the swallowing function of both gender and age ranges were subdivided into four subgroups: GI: 20–30 years, GII: 31–40 years, GIII: 41–50 years, and GIV: 51–60 years
Summary
Among the different technologies used to assess instrumental swallowing, regarding the cost/benefit relation, the ultrasound (hereinafter, USG) of tongue movement stands out as a viable instrument for the investigation of orofacial functions, especially for the investigation of oropharyngeal swallowing[1].The advantages of using the ultrasound technique may be described in terms of equipment cost, portability, real-time imaging, setting for the examination, comfort of the patient, and safety to health. It is not necessary that previous preparation of the patient and their own food may be used, considering that no contrast material is required to view food bolus during swallowing[1,2,3]. It is noteworthy, that the USG of swallowing, as well as all the other imaging techniques, requires the speechlanguage therapist to have specific training with a specialized professional and to have basic knowledge of the appearance of the anatomic structures of the oropharynx, imaging procedures, and operation of the system[4]. There are, studies approaching both qualitative and quantitative parameters of oropharyngeal swallowing at the same time[16,17,18]
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