Abstract
Objective: It is reported that among the elderly requiring case most aspirations are not caused by the function ofpharyngeal stage but the preparatory stage, though aspiration indeed occurs in the pharyngeal stage. Thus it is important to evaluate the function of bolus preparation for reducing the risk of aspiration. The purpose of this studyas to establish a method to evaluate the function of bolus preparation for swallowing using videoendoscopy.
Methods: Ten dentulous healthy adults participated in this study. Rice and cookies were used as examination foods.We made up bicolor foods to evaluate the degree of bolus preparation, that is, white rice and green rice, yellow cookiesand green cookies. The subjects were instructed to eat mouthfuls of the same kind of foods with different colors in twodifferent ways: in the usual manner and with proper mastication. We evaluated the function of bolus preparation in thepharynx, using videoendoscopy, from the viewpoint of the degree of grindability, cohesiveness and mixing.
Results: Rice; The bolus made by chewing normally had poor degrees of grindability and cohesiveness. Thedegrees of grindability and cohesiveness of the bolus made by chewing well were higher than with the bolus made bychewing normally. Cookie; The bolus made in both ways had high degrees of mixing, grindability and cohesiveness.
Conclusion: These results indicated that it is possible to evaluate the bolus preparation function for swallowingusing videoendoscopy, although it is not qualitative but quantitative.
