Objective:Due to the spread of the coronavirus disease of 2019(COVID-19), people are forced to live self-restrained lives, and communication is impaired. Therefore, we investigated differences in the tongue and lip motor function(articulation)in patients who visited our department before and after the spread of COVID-19.
Subjects and Methods:We included 146 and 50 patients from among those who visited our department before(April 1, 2019-March 31, 2020)and after(July 1, 2020-August 31, 2021)the spread of COVID-19, respectively. The “10 pataka” method was used to evaluate tongue and lip motor dysfunction.
Results:No difference between genders was observed;however, after the spread of COVID-19, the value of the “10 pataka” method significantly increased. Although there was no difference in patients aged <80 years, the value was approximately 0.8 s longer in patients aged ≥80 years.
Conclusions:Our findings suggest that the tongue and lip motor function, evaluated using the “10 pataka” method, may be impaired in patients aged ≥80 years after the spread of COVID-19.
View full abstract