Premium
Development of a swallowing frequency meter using a laryngeal microphone
Author(s) -
TANAKA N.,
NOHARA K.,
OKUNO K.,
KOTANI Y.,
OKAZAKI H.,
MATSUMURA M.,
SAKAI T.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of oral rehabilitation
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.991
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-2842
pISSN - 0305-182X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2842.2012.02293.x
Subject(s) - swallowing , audiology , concordance , dysphagia , sound level meter , larynx , medicine , psychology , dentistry , surgery , noise level , hearing loss
Summary Disuse atrophy of swallowing‐related organs is suspected when decreased swallowing frequency is seen in the elderly. However, swallowing frequency has not been examined in elderly people during daily life. We developed a swallowing frequency meter containing a laryngeal microphone that does not restrict the subject’s ability to perform daily activities. In this study, the utility of the meter was assessed. Experiment 1: The ability of the meter to detect swallowing was examined. The subject was instructed to swallow saliva or foods at a voluntarily pace. During these procedures, swallowing events were simultaneously recorded by the meter, self‐enumeration and videofluorography. As a result, all of the swallowing events identified by the meter coincided with the swallowing events identified by self‐enumeration and videofluorography. Experiment 2: Swallowing sounds display various patterns both between and within individuals. Therefore, we examined the concordance rate between the number of swallowing events counted by the meter and that counted by self‐enumeration in 15 subjects over a longer period than in experiment 1. The concordance rates calculated by two examiners between the meter and self‐enumeration were 96·8 ± 4·5% and 98·9 ± 3·3% at rest and 95·2 ± 4·5% and 96·1 ± 4·1% during meals, respectively. Our findings indicate that this meter is useful for measuring the frequency of swallowing during daily situations.