Association of antipsychotic drugs and tongue strength in patients with dysphagia: A cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND

Antipsychotic drugs negatively affect muscle strength. Previous studies have shown an association between handgrip strength and tongue strength. Therefore, antipsychotic drugs may be related to tongue strength, a surrogate marker of swallowing function.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the association between antipsychotic drug use and tongue strength in patients with dysphagia.

METHODS

This multicenter cross-sectional study included patients with dysphagia. Tongue strength was assessed at each facility using the JMS tongue pressure measuring instrument. Antipsychotic drugs assessed included aripiprazole, quetiapine, risperidone, and brexpiprazole. A multivariate model was used to analyze the association between the use of antipsychotic drugs and tongue strength.

RESULTS

In total, 126 patients (mean age 80.7 ± 11.1 years, 49.2 % female) were included, and 12 (9.5 %) patients had used antipsychotic drugs. Their tongue strength tended to be lower compared to those with no antipsychotic drug use (11.9 [0.3-22.2] kPa vs. 16.3 [10.1-24.4] kPa, P = 0.066). The multivariate linear regression analysis showed that antipsychotic drug use was negatively associated with tongue strength (β -6.681, 95 % confidence interval [-12.535, -0.828], P = 0.026). However, the binomial logistic regression analysis revealed no association between antipsychotic drug use and low tongue pressure (odds ratio = 2.561, 95 % confidence interval [0.598, 10.972], P = 0.205).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of antipsychotic drugs was negatively associated with tongue strength. The reduction or discontinuation of antipsychotic drugs should be carefully considered in patients with dysphagia.