Page 85 - Portuguese Journal - SPORL - Vol 61. Nº2
P. 85
are often asymptomatic, with no evident • The second process is related to changes
clinical signs. Madhavan et al. have suggested secondary to diseases, surgical interven-
6
that these changes are associated with risk tions, and accidents that occur throughout
factors such as frailty and sarcopenia. Doty life
and Bosma were the first to describe changes • Finally, changes caused by each individual’s
3
in swallowing in this age group through their lifestyle (including eating habits, alcohol and
study of electromyographic responses during tobacco consumption, degree of physical
swallowing in young and older individuals. activity, and exposure to air pollution)
They argued that swallowing, like locomotion,
is subject to different levels of pharyngeal Evidence on changes in swallowing and its
excitation and stimulation that decrease with different phases continues to emerge as
aging. The prevalence of dysphagia in older the functional and instrumental evaluation
people varies in the literature and depends techniques become more refined.
on the context in which the studies are
conducted. The prevalence rate range is 7–22% Oral Phase
in healthy older individuals and increase to Decreased taste, smell, and oral sensitivity,
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33% among people aged 80 years and over. tooth loss, reduced salivary flow, and
Among older people hospitalized with acute xerostomia are the characteristics associated
diseases, prevalence varies between 35% and with age that affect the oral phase of
55%; among those in care homes, it varies swallowing (Figure 1). The consequences of
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between 65% and 75% . diminished salivary flow include increased
The changes during aging occur through effort in chewing and processing foods, as well
three mutually complementary processes: as decreased taste and difficult eviction of
• The first process is inevitable, progressive, certain foods. There is a consensus about the
and irreversible; this physiological process fact that tongue strength decreases with age.
entails a reduction in the body’s ability to Sakai et al. suggested that in older individuals
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function with suspected sarcopenia, lip and tongue
Figura 1
Changes in swallowing related to aging (adapted from Muhle et al.) 4
Volume 61 . Nº2 . June 2023 227
