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Functional oral-motor skills: Do they change with age?
1School of Physical and Occupational Therapy, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1Y5.
Dysphagia
|August 26, 1998
Summary
Healthy seniors maintain functional feeding and oral praxis skills, independent of age. Natural dentition is key for effective eating and drinking, not age-related decline.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Speech and Language Pathology
- Oral Health
Background:
- Dysphagia (difficulty eating/drinking) increases with age, impacting the elderly.
- Oral phase skills (mastication, tongue mobility, lip closure) may decline with age.
- The relationship between aging, dysphagia, and functional feeding remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify oral phase ingestion changes in healthy seniors.
- To assess functional feeding and oral praxis in older adults.
- To determine factors influencing oral phase function in aging.
Main Methods:
- 79 healthy adults aged 60-97 years were studied.
- Assessed using the Modified Functional Feeding Assessment (FFAm) and Oral Praxis Subtest (OPS).
- Included interviews on health, sensory aids, and food avoidance.
Main Results:
- Functional feeding skills were maintained across age groups (60-97 years).
- Skills depended on denture use, not age; younger seniors reported more texture difficulties.
- Oral praxis correlated with age, but not hearing aid use.
Conclusions:
- Healthy seniors generally maintain functional feeding and oral praxis.
- Natural dentition is a strong predictor of good feeding ability.
- Age itself is not the primary determinant of oral phase dysphagia in healthy elders.