EXPLORATION OF PHARYNGEAL SWALLOWING BY AUDIOSIGNAL RECORDING

The aims of this study were to analyze the following by audiorecording of swallows: (1) the influence on the volume and consistency of inges ted substances on the audiosignal recorded during separate swallows; a nd (2) the characteristics of successive swallows during ingestion of 100 mi of die same substances to define deglutitive behaviors. Volunte ers followed two protocols. Protocol (P) I comprised ingestion of 100 mi of water or yoghurt in successive swallows and Protocol 2 comprised separate swallows of different volumes of the same substances. Audios ignal recordings were made with a dynamic microphone. The following pa rameters were measured in P1: total time of ingestion (TT), number of swallows necessary for ingestion (N), and spontaneous swallowing inter vals (SI). In P2 the duration (d) of each signal was measured accordin g to consistency and volume. Mean (m) values were then calculated (TTm , Nm, SIm, and dm). During PI, TTm for yoghurt was significantly longe r than for water (23.1 vs. 6.5 sec (men) sind 21.8 vs. 7.8 sec (women) . Nm was also greater for yoghurt (10.1 vs. 4.3 (men) and 10.0 vs. 4.8 (women). Three types of swallowing behavior were defined according to SI: swallowing al regular intervals (Reg) with increasing intervals d uring ingestion (Frog) and swallowing at variable intervals (Irreg). T hese patterns did not differ significantly according to sex. In P2 the increase in volume swallowed increased the duration (dm) of the signa l for water (600 msec for 5 mi and 960 msec for 15 mi), The dm for yog hurt was significantly less than for water (580 msec for 5 mi and 920 msec for 15 mi). Our technique of recording sounds of pharyngeal swall owing is simple, reproducible, and not expensive. It permitted the ana lysis of each swallow according to volume and consistency and the dete rmination of three swallowing patterns (Reg, Frog, and Irreg), taking into account the spontaneous swallowing interval. Ingestion by success ive swallows could be used to characterize certain pharyngoesophageal motor dysfunctioning in relation to this reference population and to i ntegrate this into a deglutition rehabilitation program.