Whiplash-Associated Dysphagia: Considerations of Potential Incidence and Mechanisms.
D Stone, H Bogaardt, S D Linnstaedt and 5 others
PMID 31377863WHAT IT FOUND
Three people with chronic whiplash and swallowing changes showed shrinking throat space and high stress.
Three recovered people had no swallowing changes and growing throat space. This suggests a link but does not prove whiplash causes dysphagia.
Key findings
01Participants with chronic whiplash and reported swallowing changes showed an 18.6% reduction in oropharyngeal volume over three months, while recovered participants showed a 17.1% increase.
02The group with chronic symptoms and swallowing changes had higher traumatic distress scores and lower levels of the biomarker miR-320a compared to the recovered group.
03This study used a crude yes/no question to identify swallowing changes and did not perform instrumental swallowing assessments.
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 six participants, which is too small to draw any general conclusions. Swallowing difficulty was identified using a single yes/no question, not a validated clinical assessment or instrumental measure. The researchers did not measure how well the participants actually swallowed, only the size of their throat space and their self-reported symptoms. Participants were selected because they already had extreme outcomes (fully recovered vs. chronic pain), which likely exaggerates the differences seen. No statistical significance testing was performed.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health (N.I.H., Extramural). No other conflicts of interest were declared in the provided text.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that whiplash causes dysphagia based on this paper. The study only looked at six people who were already selected for having opposite recovery outcomes, and it never actually measured swallowing function, only self-reported symptoms and throat size.