Differences in swallowing between high and low concentration taste stimuli.

Taste is a property that is thought to potentially modulate swallowing behavior. Whether such effects depend on taste, intensity remains unclear. This study explored differences in the amplitudes of tongue-palate pressures in swallowing as a function of taste stimulus concentration.

Influence of the perceived taste intensity of chemesthetic stimuli on swallowing parameters given age and genetic taste differences in healthy adult women.

Purpose: This study examined whether the perceived taste intensity of liquids with chemesthetic properties influenced lingua-palatal pressures and submental surface electromyography (sEMG) in swallowing, compared with water.

Method: Swallowing was studied in 80 healthy women, stratified by age group and genetic taste status. General Labeled Magnitude Scale ratings of taste intensity were collected for deionized water; carbonated water; 2.

Barium versus nonbarium stimuli: differences in taste intensity, chemesthesis, and swallowing behavior in healthy adult women.

Purpose: The authors examined the impact of barium on the perceived taste intensity of 7 different liquid tastant stimuli and the modulatory effect that these differences in perceived taste intensity have on swallowing behaviors.

Method: Participants were 80 healthy women, stratified by age group (<40; >60) and genetic taste status (supertasters; nontasters). Perceived taste intensity and chemesthetic properties (fizziness; burning-stinging) were rated for 7 tastant solutions (each prepared with and without barium) using the general Labeled Magnitude Scale.

The effect of barium on perceptions of taste intensity and palatability.

Barium may affect the perception of taste intensity and palatability. Such differences are important considerations in the selection of dysphagia assessment strategies and interpretation of results. Eighty healthy women grouped by age (younger, older) and genetic taste status (supertaster, nontaster) rated intensity and palatability for seven tastants prepared in deionized water with and without 40 % w/v barium: noncarbonated and carbonated water, diluted ethanol, and high concentrations of citric acid (sour), sodium chloride (salty), caffeine (bitter), and sucrose (sweet).

Moving beyond the limitations of the visual analog scale for measuring pain: novel use of the general labeled magnitude scale in a clinical setting.

Objective: Quantifying pain intensity is challenging, particularly for patients with chronic pain. The visual analog scale (VAS) is limited by ceiling effects that often leave patients with no ability to quantify worsening pain. The goal of this study was to determine whether the general Labeled Magnitude Scale (gLMS) can be feasibly used to measure pain clinically while overcoming limitations of the VAS.

Effects of chemesthetic stimuli mixtures with barium on swallowing apnea duration.

Objectives/hypothesis: This study tested the hypotheses that swallowing apnea duration (SAD) will increase given barium versus water, chemesthetic stimuli (i.e., water < ethanol, acid, and carbonation) mixed with barium, age (older > younger), and genetic taste differences (supertasters > nontasters).

Main taste effects on swallowing apnea duration in healthy adults.

Objective: This study examined swallowing apnea duration (SAD) and respiratory phase patterns as a function of taste, tastes combined with barium, age, and genetic taste group.

Study Design: Prospective group design.

Setting: University medical center.

The influence of stimulus taste and chemesthesis on tongue movement timing in swallowing.

Purpose: To explore the influence of taste and trigeminal irritation (chemesthesis) on durational aspects of tongue movement in liquid swallowing, controlling for the influence of perceived taste intensity.

Method: Electromagnetic midsagittal articulography was used to trace tongue movements during discrete liquid swallowing with 5 liquids: water, 3 moderate concentration tastants without odor (sweet, sour, sweet-sour), and a high concentration of citric acid (sour taste plus chemesthesis). Participants were 33 healthy adults in 2 gender-balanced, age-stratified groups (under/over 50).

Effects of chemesthetic stimuli, age, and genetic taste groups on swallowing apnea duration.

Objective: This study tested the hypotheses that swallowing apnea duration (SAD) will increase given chemesthetic stimuli (ie, water < ethanol, acid, and carbonation), age (older > young), and genetic taste differences (supertasters > nontasters).

Study Design: Prospective group design.

Setting: University medical center.

Tongue pressure and submental surface electromyography measures during noneffortful and effortful saliva swallows in healthy women.

Purpose: The effortful swallow, a compensatory technique frequently employed by speech-language pathologists for their patients with dysphagia, is still not fully understood in terms of how it modifies the swallow. In particular, although age-related changes are known to reduce maximum isometric tongue pressure, it is not known whether age affects people's ability to perform the effortful swallow. In this study, differences were explored between younger and older healthy women in execution of the effortful swallowing maneuver through a comparative analysis of effortful and noneffortful swallows.

Sip-sizing behaviors in natural drinking conditions compared to instructed experimental conditions.

To understand disordered physiology, it is first necessary to determine what constitutes normal function. Liquid sip size during swallowing in healthy individuals has been investigated with varied results. Bolus size is a variable that is manipulated in both research studies and clinical swallowing assessments, so defining normal sip size has relevance in both domains.

The effect of taste and palatability on lingual swallowing pressure.

There is evidence that a strong, unpalatable, sour bolus improves swallowing in neurogenic dysphagia. It is not known whether other tastes may alter swallowing physiology. This study investigated the effect of moderate versus high taste concentrations (sweet, sour, salty, bitter) and barium taste samples on lingual swallowing pressure in ten healthy young adults, using a three-bulb lingual pressure array secured to the hard palate.

Feeding beliefs of certified nurse assistants in the nursing home: a factor influencing practice.

In this study, the author examined the feeding beliefs of 20 certified nurse assistants (CNAs) working in nursing homes using Q methodology and semistructured interviews. Beliefs are defined as a combination of CNA feeding knowledge, experience, and values. Two groups of CNAs with contra belief systems emerged from the analysis.

What do certified nurse assistants actually know about dysphagia and feeding nursing home residents?

The purpose of this study was to examine certified nurse assistants' (CNAs') knowledge of dysphagia and how to feed nursing home residents using nonparticipatory structured feeding observation, critique of staged feeding behaviors on film, and semistructured interview in a triangulation methods design. Content analysis of the data confirmed previous studies that suggested CNAs lack knowledge about dysphagia and how to feed residents. A surprising result was the lack of accurate, comprehensive information in CNA texts and classrooms about dysphagia and how to manage challenging feeding behaviors.

Effect of citric acid and citric acid-sucrose mixtures on swallowing in neurogenic oropharyngeal dysphagia.

The ability of sour and sweet-sour mixtures to improve swallowing in 11 nursing home residents with neurogenic oropharyngeal dysphagia was investigated using fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing. Citric acid (2.7%) significantly reduced aspiration and penetration compared with water.

Gender, age, vessel size, cup vs. straw sipping, and sequence effects on sip volume.

Two experiments were performed to examine the effects of cup size, gender, age, and parameters of sipping (cup vs. straw and sequence) on sip volume. Increasing the size of the vessel from 150 to 600 ml increased the volume of a sip by about 15%.