Gender effect on the clinical measurement of swallowing

Abstract

Background: Swallowing coordination is affected by cortical and subcortical inputs from the central nervous system. Our hypothesis is that the swallowing dynamics may be influenced by gender.

Aim: To evaluate the influence of gender on water swallowing dynamics.

Methods: We studied 111 health subjects, 36 men, aged 24-77 years (mean: 46.3 +/- 16.1 years) and 75 women, aged 22-75 years (mean: 39.6 +/- 13.3 years). All volunteers swallowed in triplicate 50 mL of water at 4 degrees C while precisely timed, when we measured the time to swallow all the volume and counted the number of swallows. We calculated the inter-swallow interval: the time to complete the task, in seconds, divided by the number of swallows; swallowing velocity: volume drunk (mL) by the time taken (s); swallowing volume capacity: volume drunk (mL) divided by the number of swallows.

Results: Women had a shorter inter-swallow interval, slower swallowing velocity and lower volume capacity than men.

Conclusion: Gender has an effect on water swallowing dynamics, with women having a lower swallowing velocity and a lower volume capacity in each swallow than men.