Swallow Event Sequencing: Comparing Healthy Older and Younger Adults.
Erica G Herzberg, Cathy L Lazarus, Catriona M Steele and 1 others
PMID 29687354WHAT IT FOUND
Healthy older adults showed less variation in the order of swallow events than healthy young adults, and some timing differences appeared.
These are healthy norms, not evidence that aging causes a swallowing disorder.
Key findings
01Healthy older adults showed less variation in overall swallow event sequences than healthy young adults: 105 unique sequences occurred in 193 older swallows (60.7%), compared with 142 unique sequences in 173 young swallows (82.1%), with a significant difference (p<0.0001).
02In healthy older adults, the sequences laryngeal elevation before UES opening, UES opening before hyolaryngeal approximation, and UES max before max PC met the 97% rule for obligatory sequences, but UES opening before/with bolus at UES did not.
03The young and older groups differed significantly for UES opening before/with bolus at UES and UES max before max PC, and the timing between those same event pairs also differed.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included only healthy adults with safe and efficient swallowing, so it does not show what happens in people with swallowing problems. The sample was 20 young and 23 older adults, and only a narrow range of bolus volumes and viscosities was analysed, so the results may not cover all everyday foods and liquids. The young adult dataset was changed by excluding the extra young adult swallow conditions to match the older dataset, so the young adult numbers here are not the same as the earlier published young adult study. Sex differences were not tested, even though the sample included men and women. The bolus past mandible event was not included, so the timing of pharyngeal swallow onset was not examined. The pair UES opening before/with bolus at UES had the weakest reliability and often occurred within one to two frames, so it may be hard to measure consistently.
Declared interests
No conflict of interest statement is included in the supplied text. The article is labelled as supported by NIH extramural research.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these age differences as a sign that healthy aging causes a swallowing disorder. The study included only healthy adults with safe and efficient swallowing, and the authors say the findings are normative references for future comparison with people who have dysphagia.