Investigating the Effect of Ageing on Swallowing Movement Sequencing, Velocities, and Muscle Contraction in Non-Invasive Multimodal Swallowing Examination: A Pilot Study: The 30th Annual Congress of Gerontology, Hong Kong

Swallowing is a complex physiological process that governs the safety and efficiency of nutritional intake across the lifespan. Previous studies using ultrasonography have shown that the variability and concurrency of swallowing movement sequences decreased with ageing as well as the presence of dysphagia (e.g. Lam et al, 2023a). The combination of sequence variability and concurrency also achieved AUC-ROC scores of .961, .926, .952 in differentiating healthy, ageing, and dysphagic individuals respectively from one another (Lam et al, 2023b). While there has been evidence showing that suprahyoid muscle mass and quality changes along with ageing (e.g. Mori et al, 2019), little attention has been placed on how such changes are correlated with swallowing movement sequencing and velocities. Results of two-way MANOVA (Group and Gender) and Pearson’s correlation among movement sequencing, velocities, and area changes of swallowing muscles will be discussed with respect to ageing. The feasibility and future directions of utilizing AI-enabled, portable, and non-invasive multimodal swallowing assessment using ultrasonography and digital cervical auscultation (i.e. accelerometer array) in community and home care settings will also be discussed.