Relationship between jaw opening force and hyoid bone dynamics in healthy elderly subjects

Figures & data

Figure 1 Jaw-opening sthenometer.

Figure 2 Schema of a lateral view of hyoid bone and neck with measuring point.

Note: Maximum/resting hyoid position: the vertical distance from the upper end of the hyoid bone to the y-axis.

Table 1 Participant characteristics and hyoid displacement

	Men	Women	Mann–Whitney U test (P-value)
n	16	20
Age (mean ± SD)	76.6±5.7	74.6±6.9
Resting hyoid position, mm (mean ± SD)	8.1±7.5	8.4±8.9	0.774
Maximum hyoid position, mm (mean ± SD)	29.3±6.0	22.7±8.0	0.011a
Jaw opening force, N (mean ± SD)	76.5±29.4	48.1±12.7	0.002b
Forward displacement, mm (mean ± SD)	10.5±4.0	10.4±3.3	0.924
Upward displacement, mm (mean ± SD)	21.2±6.3	14.3±6.4	0.005b
Hypotenuse displacement, mm (mean ± SD)	23.8±6.9	18.4±5.0	0.010a

Note:

a P<0.05,

b P<0.01.

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

Table 2 Correlation of jaw opening force with resting/maximum hyoid position and hyoid displacement

	Resting hyoid position	Maximum hyoid position	Forward displacement	Upward displacement	Hypotenuse displacement
Men
Spearman’s R	0.723a	0.000	−0.511a	−0.821b	−0.799b
P-value	0.002	1.000	0.043	0.000	0.000
Women
Spearman’s R	−0.004	−0.018	0.086	−0.123	−0.094
P-value	0.987	0.938	0.719	0.604	0.693

Note:

a P<0.05,

b P<0.01.