Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Feb 16;10(2):377.
doi: 10.3390/healthcare10020377.

Singing Experience Influences RSST Scores

Naomi Yagi  1 , Yoshitada Sakai  2 , Naoko Kawamura  1 , Hitoshi Maezawa  3 , Yutaka Hata  4 , Masayuki Hirata  3 , Hideki Kashioka  5 , Toshio Yanagida  5
Affiliations

Singing Experience Influences RSST Scores

Naomi Yagi et al. Healthcare (Basel). .

Abstract

It has recently been shown that the aging population is refractory to the maintenance of swallowing function, which can seriously affect quality of life. Singing and vocal training contribute to mastication, swallowing and respiratory function. Previous studies have shown that singers have better vocal cord health. No consensus has been reached as to how vocal training affects swallowing ability. Our study was designed to establish evidence that singers are statistically superior at inducing the swallowing reflex. To test our hypothesis, we undertook a clinical trial on 55 singers and 141 non-singers (mean age: 60.1 ± 11.7 years). This cross-sectional study with propensity score matching resulted in significant differences in a repetitive saliva swallowing test among singers: 7.1 ± 2.4, n = 53 vs. non-singers: 5.9 ± 1.9, n = 53, p < 0.05. We conclude that singing can serve an important role in stabilizing the impact of voluntary swallowing on speech.

Keywords: RSST; inducibility of swallowing flex; singing; voluntary swallowing.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow diagram summarizing study selection criteria.
Figure 2
Figure 2
RSST and MPT scores before and after matching.
Figure 3
Figure 3
ANCOVA of RSST score: (a) ANCOVA of age plotted as a function of RSST score, RSST = −0.045 × Age + 9.837 − 1.122× Group (Singers: Group = 0, Non-singers: Group = 1, p = 0.0084); (b) ANCOVA of grip strength plotted as a function of RSST score, RSST = 0.081 × Grip strength + 4.931 − 1.124 × Group (Singers: Group = 0, Non-singers: Group = 1, p = 0.0089).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Clavé P., Shaker R. Dysphagia: Current reality and scope of the problem. Nat. Rev. Gas Hepatol. 2015;12:259–270. doi: 10.1038/nrgastro.2015.49. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Roy N., Stemple J., Merrill M.R., Thomas L. Dysphagia in the elderly: Preliminary evidence of prevalence, risk factors, and socioemotional effects. Ann. Otol. Rhinol. Laryngol. 2007;116:858–865. doi: 10.1177/000348940711601112. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hashimoto H., Hirata M., Takahashi K., Kameda S., Katsuta Y., Yoshida F., Hattori N., Yanagisawa T., Palmer J., Oshino S., et al. Non-invasive quantification of human swallowing using a simple motion tracking system. Sci. Rep. 2018;8:5095. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23486-0. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jayatilake D., Ueno T., Teramoto Y., Nakai K., Hidaka K., Ayuzawa S., Eguchi K., Matsumura A., Suzuki K. Smartphone-Based Real-time Assessment of Swallowing Ability From the Swallowing Sound. IEEE J. Transl. Eng. Health Med. 2015;3:2900310. doi: 10.1109/JTEHM.2015.2500562. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Yagi N., Nagami S., Lin M., Yabe T., Itoda M., Imai T., Oku Y. A noninvasive swallowing measurement system using a combination of respiratory flow, swallowing sound, and laryngeal motion. Med. Biol. Eng. Comput. 2017;55:1001–1017. doi: 10.1007/s11517-016-1561-2. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources