Effect of aging on oral and swallowing function after meal consumption

Figures & data

Table 1 Characteristics of the study participants

	YA (n=23)	OA (n=23)	P
Age (years)	29.96±4.84	76.65±4.86	P<0.01
Body weight (kg)	57.80±12.22	59.17±11.11	ns
Body height (cm)	165.47±8.15	159.20±6.40	P<0.05
Body mass index (kg/m^2)	21.38±3.00	23.11±3.55	ns
Meal time (minute)	13.91±4.76	15.87±7.49	ns
Remaining teeth (n)	28.60±1.16	19.17±7.19	P<0.01¶¶

Notes: Data are presented as mean ± standard deviation. Student’s t-test, unless otherwise indicated.

¶¶ Mann–Whitney U-test.

Abbreviations: YA, young adult; OA, old adult; ns, not significant.

Table 2 Evaluation of oral function

1. DDK

2. RSST

3. Tongue–palate pressure

4. Surface EMG during swallowing 3 mL of cold water

5. Surface EMG during head rising for MVC

6. Meal for 30 minutes

7. Surface EMG during head rising

8. Surface EMG during swallowing 3 mL of cold water

9. RSST

10. Tongue–palate pressure

11. DDK

Abbreviations: DDK, oral diadochokinesis; RSST, repetitive saliva swallowing test; EMG, electromyography; MVC, maximal voluntary contraction.

Figure 1 Tongue–palate pressure test.

Notes: Intraoral positioning of the balloon (A). The placement of the tongue during measurement of maximum tongue pressure (large arrow) (B).

Table 3 Tongue pressure and number of swallows

		YA (n=23)	OA (n=23)	P¶
Tongue pressure (kPa)	Pre	38.08±9.67	26.85±0.68	P<0.05
	Post	39.20±8.96	27.50±3.90	P<0.05
		ns¶¶	ns¶¶
Number of swallows/30 seconds	Pre	7.61±2.82	5.35±2.89	P<0.01
	Post	7.30±2.93	4.65±2.35	P<0.001
		ns¶¶	P<0.05¶¶

Notes:

¶ YA versus OA: Mann–Whitney U-test.

¶¶ Pre-meal versus post-meal: Wilcoxon rank sum test.

Abbreviations: YA, young adult; OA, old adult; ns, not significant.

Figure 2 Latency from the onset of each saliva swallow before and after meal consumption.

Notes: ANOVA showed that the time interval after the meal was longer compared to before the meal (P<0.05), and was longer in OAs compared to YAs (P<0.001).
Abbreviations: ANOVA, analysis of variance; YA, young adult; OA, older adult.

Figure 3 Total number of repetitions of the diadochokinesis task over 5 seconds, pre-meal and post-meal.

Notes: *P<0.05, **P<0.01, by Student’s t-test for /pa/ and /ta/, by Wilcoxon rank sum test for /ka/.
Abbreviations: YA, young adult; OA, older adult.