Association between swallowing function and muscle strength in elderly individuals with dysphagia

This study aimed to investigate the association among swallowing function, hand grip strength, and peak expiratory flow in elderly patients with dysphagia.

A total of 35 patients (26 men and 9 women, 80.7 ± 8.1 years) were included in the final analysis. They underwent videoendoscopy (VE) for the assessment of swallowing function, hand grip strength test, and peak expiratory flow test. We used the Hyodo score, the objective scale of VE developed by Hyodo et al. (2010), which consists of the following 4 parameters: salivary pooling degree at the vallecula and pyriform sinuses, glottal closure reflex induced by touching of the endoscope to the epiglottis or arytenoid, swallowing reflex initiation assessed by "white-out" timing, and pharyngeal clearance after blue-dyed water is swallowed.

The Hyodo score significantly correlated to hand grip strength and peak expiratory flow, and hand grip strength was significantly correlated to peak expiratory flow. Although a significant correlation was noted between the Hyodo score and hand grip strength after adjustment for peak expiratory flow, no significant correlation was found between the Hyodo score and peak expiratory flow after adjustment for hand grip strength.

This study indicated that unlike peak expiratory flow, hand grip strength is associated with swallowing function, which was evaluated by an objective scale, and can be used as an indicator for whole body muscle strength. This result may contribute to the investigation of the effect of muscle training on dysphagia.