Relationship between the swallowing function and jaw-opening muscle strength in elderly cerebrovascular disease patients

Abstract

Aim: In this study, we aimed to clarify the relationship between the swallowing function and the jaw-opening force after cerebrovascular disease. Methods: Elderly patients with a history of cerebrovascular disease with swallowing disability were enrolled in the present study. The swallowing function was evaluated using the Dysphagia Severity Scale (DSS), and the jaw-opening force was measured using Jaw-Opening Sthenometer (TK2014). The correlation between the DSS and jaw-opening force was analyzed using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Patients were also classified into three groups according to the DSS：normal, dysphagia, and aspiration groups. The jaw-opening forces of the three groups were compared using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: Fifty-two patients (27 women, average age 78.8±8.2 years) were recruited. A significant negative correlation was found between the patient age and jaw-opening force in all subjects (r=-0.362, p=0.008) as well as in men (r=-0.548, p=0.005). A significant positive correlation was found between the DSS and jaw-opening force in all subjects (r=0.560, p=0.000) and in both men (r= 0.636, p=0.001) and women (r=0.587, p=0.001). The jaw-opening force of the aspiration group was significantly lower than that of the normal group in all subjects (p=0.006), as well as in men (p=0.024) and women (p=0.015). Conclusions: The DSS and jaw-opening force may have a significant positive correlation. Furthermore, it was shown that the jaw-opening force of the aspiration group was significantly lower than that of the normal-swallowing group.