Oropharyngeal swallowing and aging: A review

This article provides an overview of normal oropharyngeal swallowing in rel ation to advanced age, with specific attention to oropharyngeal movement pa tterns and temporospatial swallowing durations. Swallowing disorders associ ated with aging are addressed with specific attention to the need for appli cation of normative data to the diagnostic process. Attention is drawn to t he need for continued research on swallowing function in the normal adult i f efforts to maximize functional independence in eating and swallowing in t he institutionalized adult are to be realized. (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc.