2018 Volume 22 Issue 1 Pages 12-19
It is difficult for older adults to attain exercise goals by performing head-raising exercises for strengthening the suprahyoid muscles because of sternocleidomastoid muscle fatigue. Although it was reported that tongue-to-palate pressure generation is superior to head-raising exercise to strengthen the suprahyoid muscles, the data is unclear for healthy older adults. The purpose of this study was to determine whether tongue-to-palate pressure generation can be used for laryngeal elevation training. Fifteen healthy younger adults (age, 27.1±2.6 years) and 12 healthy older adults (age, 76.0±3.0 years) participated in this study. We determined the electromyographic activity of the suprahyoid muscles, infrahyoid muscles, and sternocleidomastoid muscle when the participants performed tongue-to-palate pressure generation, head-raising exercise, and Mendelsohn maneuver. All parameters were compared using two-way analysis of variance. In terms of comparing the electromyographic activity of the suprahyoid muscles determined in this study, tongue-to-palate pressure generation significantly outperformed head-raising exercise and Mendelsohn maneuver (p＜ 0.01). In terms of comparing the electromyographic activity of the infrahyoid muscles and sternocleidomastoid muscle, head-raising exercise and Mendelsohn maneuver significantly outperformed tongue-to-palate pressure generation (p＜ 0.01). In healthy older adults, tongue-to-palate pressure generation may effectively improve electromyographic activity of suprahyoid muscles and may be used for laryngeal elevation training.
