2023 Volume 27 Issue 2 Pages 111-116
Expansion of the pharyngeal lumen causing a decline of pharyngeal constriction is reportedly associated with aging. Other than aging, however, it is not clear what factors are associated with expansion of the pharyngeal lumen. As the larynx is adjacent to the pharynx, we hypothesized that the age-related change of larynx position could be a potential factor affecting expansion of the pharyngeal lumen in the elderly. The aim of this study was to elucidate the association between the area of the pharynx and the larynx position in the elderly.
This cross-sectional study included 75 dental clinic outpatients who had symptoms of swallowing difficulty and had no medical history of disease-causing dysphagia such as stroke, Parkinson's disease or neuromuscular disease. Age, sex, body mass index (BMI), number of remaining teeth, and tongue pressure were recorded. A lateral image captured by a videofluoroscopic swallowing study was used for measuring the pharyngeal area as an index of the pharyngeal lumen. The hyoid and larynx positions were also measured. Multiple regression analysis was performed with pharyngeal area as the dependent variable. Pharyngeal area was independently associated with aging (β ＝0.4489, p＜0.001), BMI (β ＝－0.1841, p＝0.041) and larynx position (β ＝－0.4318, p＝0.002). The results suggest that decreased weight or laryngeal descent may be a useful index of the area of pharynx expansion.
