Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026
Adapting Human Videofluoroscopic Swallow Study Methods to Detect and Characterize Dysphagia in Murine Disease Models
Published on: March 1, 2015
Comparison of effortful and noneffortful swallows in healthy middle-aged and older adults
J A Hind1, M A Nicosia, E B Roecker
1Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA.
Objective:
To assess the effects of effortful swallowing, a common compensatory strategy for dysphagia, on the bolus and swallowing mechanism of middle-aged and older men and women.
Design:
Case-controlled design in which subjects completed both the intervention technique and the control behavior.
Setting:
A university hospital.
Participants:
Sixty-four healthy men and women between 45 and 93 years of age from the community.
Interventions:
Participants swallowed 3-mL thin liquid boluses both normally and using the effortful swallow strategy.
Main Outcomes Measures:
The biomechanics and bolus flow patterns of swallows were analyzed from videofluoroscopic and simultaneous oral pressure data.
Results:
Subjects at all ages generated significantly increased oral pressures at each sensor location using the effortful swallow (p = .0001), with the pressure increase greater for the middle-aged subjects compared with older subjects. Several durational measures were significantly longer with the effortful swallow including: hyoid maximum anterior excursion (p < .04), laryngeal vestibule closure (p < .0001), and duration of the upper esophageal sphincter opening (p =.0001). The hyoid bone moved further in the superior direction with the effortful swallow (p = .002). There was a trend of decreased oral residue with the effortful swallow (p = .06).
Conclusion:
Biomechanical and bolus flow aspects of swallowing changed when healthy individuals performed effortful swallows with 3-mL boluses.
