Factors Influencing Presence or Absence of Laterality During Pharyngeal Bolus Clearance.
Kendrea L Garand, Taylor Thomas, Rajarshi Dey
PMID 33709036WHAT IT FOUND
Most healthy adults show no side preference when swallowing.
When laterality appears, men are more likely to show it than women. This pattern is a normal variation, not a sign of impairment.
Key findings
01Approximately 70% of swallows in healthy adults exhibited no laterality during pharyngeal bolus clearance.
02There was a significant association between laterality and sex, with females being more likely to demonstrate no laterality compared with males.
03Laterality observed during videofluoroscopy does not imply impairment if there are no other factors present influencing bolus flow.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only one trial per swallowing task was administered. Only one bolus volume (5 ml) was used. The sample size for participants aged 80 years and older was smaller and collapsed into a broader age category. There was an imbalance among sex and racial categories. Slight neck rotation could not be ruled out as a cause of laterality.
Declared interests
The authors declared no relevant financial or nonfinancial conflicts of interest, except that Kendrea L. Garand is a Perspectives Editorial Board Member.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that observing right or left-sided bolus flow indicates pathology. This study shows that laterality is a common finding in healthy adults, especially males, and often reflects normal anatomical variation rather than impairment.