Using the OroPress to examine the effect of age, gender, bolus consistency and bolus volume on maximum oro-lingual swallowing pressures: a pilot study.

Background/Aim: The tongue is the main organ which initiates swallowing. It generates sufficient pressure against the palate to clear bolus (food/liquid) safely through the oral cavity into the pharynx (Logemann, 1998). Previous literature on oro-lingual/tongue pressures generated during swallowing tasks have conflicted reports on how variables such as age, gender, bolus volume and consistency influence tongue pressures. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of these variables on maximum oro-lingual pressures generated during swallowing tasks. Method: 35 healthy males and females from different age groups (18-28, 29-38, 39-48, 49-58 and 59- 68) each performed three trials of 5ml liquid, 5ml semisolid, and 10ml liquid in random order. Each trial consisted of three swallows (nine swallows in total). The OroPress pressure sensor was adhered to the participants’ hard palate which recorded oro-lingual pressures through a battery operated isolated system. This was connected to a laptop computer for data display and then recorded to file. Results: The results of the study yielded no significant age effect on maximum oro-lingual pressures (p=0.773). In terms of gender effect, women displayed higher maximum oro-lingual pressures than men during swallowing, but it was statistically insignificant (p=0.509). Bolus condition results revealed a significant bolus consistency effect with semisolids producing higher maximum oro-lingual pressures than liquids (p=0.004). In conclusion, these results will add to the database on oro-lingual pressures during normal swallowing using the new OroPress tool.