An Exploratory Study to Compare Tongue Pressure and Geniohyoid Muscle Volume and Quality before and after Tongue-Hold Swallow Exercise in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

INTRODUCTION

The tongue-hold swallow (THS) exercise has potential as a resistance exercise for the tongue and pharyngeal constrictor and suprahyoid muscles. We investigated tongue pressure and volume and quality of the geniohyoid muscle in community-dwelling older adults who performed the THS exercise.

METHODS

Thirty-three day care users (78.7 ± 8.0 years old) who were able to consume three meals orally (food oral intake level; FILS ≥7) were included. The participants swallowed saliva while positioning their tongue between the upper and lower incisors six times in each session, twice a day (conducted 3 days a week for 8 weeks). Subsequently, maximum tongue pressure, geniohyoid muscle cross-sectional area, and brightness before and after the exercise were measured.

RESULTS

Twenty-seven participants (81.8%) completed the 8-week exercise. One participant was excluded for missing data and another for receiving additional swallowing rehabilitation during this period. Totally, 25 participants (76.9 ± 7.7 years old) were analyzed. After the exercise, the maximal tongue pressure, geniohyoid muscle area, and muscle brightness showed no significant increase in the study population. Examining the data of the two groups based on tongue pressure revealed no statistically significant changes in muscle area or brightness of the geniohyoid muscle before and after the exercise. Regarding maximal tongue pressure, only the low tongue pressure group showed a significant increase after the exercise (p = 0.008).

CONCLUSION

After 8 weeks of exercising, the low tongue pressure group showed a statistically significant increase in tongue pressure, suggesting the possibility that THS exercise with the appropriate exercise load strengthened tongue muscles. Conversely, the high tongue pressure group showed no statistically significant difference before and after exercise, indicating that the amount of exercise load could have been insufficient for the individuals in this group.