Relationships between Craniofacial Morphology, Sex, and Deglutitive Hyoid Bone Movement

Abstract

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between six craniofacial measures and superior and anterior hyoid bone movement during a liquid swallow. Method : Twelve White adults (6 males, 6 females) between 19-27 years of age participated. Video fluoroscopic recordings were obtained while participants swallowed 7 ml of liquid barium in the upright position. Six craniofacial measures (i.e. Frankfort-mandibular angle, nasion to menton, anterior tubercles C1 to C4, nasion to sella, sella to basion, and nasion-sella-basion angle) were obtained at rest on all participants and used to determine their association with hyoid bone displacement. Results : Males demonstrated larger craniofacial dimensions than females with the exception of nasion-sella-basion angle. Significant sex differences were noted for nasion to menton ( p = .05). There were no statistically significant correlations ( p < .05) or predictive relationships between maximum anterior and superior hyoid bone displacements and the six craniofacial measures. Conclusion : The present study demonstrated differences in craniofacial morphology related to sex, however, no correlation or predictive relationship between craniofacial measures and hyoid bone movement during swallowing of a 7 ml liquid bolus were observed. Limitations include a small sample size, lack of descriptive anthropometric features (e.g. height and weight), and limited number of swallows per subject. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and investigate the effects of bolus volume and abnormal craniofacial morphology on hyoid bone movement.