Effect of tongue‐strengthening training combined with a tablet personal computer game in healthy adults

Effects of tongue strengthening exercises in healthy adults and elderly: an integrative literature review

PURPOSE

To summarize and discuss the scientific literature on the effects of tongue strengthening exercises on healthy adults and elderly people.

RESEARCH STRATEGIES

We searched two online databases, PubMed and Web of Science.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Studies with evidence of interventions in tongues strengthening exercises in healthy individuals over 18 years of age.

DATA ANALYSIS

Study objectives, design, participants, interventions, gain in the percentage of tongue strength.

RESULTS

Sixteen studies were included. There was an increase in tongue strength after strengthening training in healthy adults and elderly people. This strength was maintained after a short period of detraining. We could not compare the results between age groups due to the different methodological designs. We found that the approach of a less intense training protocol was more effective in gaining tongue strength in the elderly.

CONCLUSION

Tongue strength training proved effective in increasing tongue strength in healthy individuals of different age groups. The benefits reported for the elderly corresponded to the reversal of the progressive loss of strength and muscle mass caused by aging. These findings must be interpreted with caution considering the number of studies on the elderly and their methodological variability.

Effect of Core Muscle Strength Training Combined with Taijiquan on Bone Mineral Density Measured by Quantitative CT Scanning in the Elderly

Learn about the benefits of muscle strength training combined with tai chi for adult skeletal muscle in multiple CT scanning. The study included 182 people over the age of 60 with no long-term history of physical activity and exercise. They were divided into the Taijiquan group (52 people), student muscle strength group (45 people), student muscle group combined with Taijiquan group (45 people), and control group (40 people). The board of directors did not attend. The other three groups received tai chi (more than 4 times a week), muscle strength training, and muscle training combined with tai chi for 6 months. Lumbar spine (L1-4) BMD and Berg scores were approximately the same as those measured in adults before exercise and at 3 and 6 months after exercise. The results showed that there were significant differences in the scores of lumbar spine BMD and Berg Balance Scale between the Taijiquan group and students before and after exercise combined with muscle strength training (P < 0.05 or <0.01). The difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The scores of lumbar BMD and Berg Balance Scale in the core muscle strength training combined with Taijiquan group after 6 months of exercise were higher than those after 3 months of exercise (P < 0.05), and the CT value of lumbar vertebral bone calcium was significantly positively correlated with BMD (Pearson correlation coefficients of L5 vertebral body were r = 0.704, 0.683, 0.728, 0.673, and 0.686, P < 0.01). Single or combined training of core muscle strength or Taijiquan can improve lumbar bone mineral density and balance function in the elderly.

Effect of Isometric Tongue Lifting Exercise on Oral Function, Physical Function, and Body Composition in Community-Dwelling Older Individuals: A Pilot Study

INTRODUCTION

It is known that oral frailty is one of the risk factors for physical frailty. Therefore, early detection, appropriate treatment, and prevention of oral frailty are really important. Tongue lifting exercise has been identified as a well-known method for improving decreased tongue pressure, one of the factors for oral frailty. However, few reports have investigated how tongue-strengthening exercises affect physical function and body composition. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of isometric tongue lifting exercises on oral function, physical function, and body composition.

METHODS

Participants were 49 elderly people aged 68-79 years, who had previously participated in the "Itoshima Frail Study." Participants performed isometric tongue lift exercises for 3 months. Oral function (tongue pressure and oral diadocokinesis), physical function (grip strength, open-eyed one-leg standing, sit-to-stand motion time, 5-m gait speed, and 3-m Timed up and go [TUG]), and body composition were measured at baseline and post-intervention, and the extent of changes in each item was statistically analyzed. Furthermore, participants were divided into physical frailty/pre-frailty and robust groups based on the Japanese version of the frail scale proposed by [BMC Geriatr. 2015 Apr;15:36] and were compared in terms of the extent of changes in each item baseline and the post-intervention.

RESULTS

After the intervention, oral function increased significantly together with a significant improvement in physical function, open-eyed one-leg standing time, sit-to-stand motion, and 3-m TUG. For body composition, visceral fat level and basal metabolic rate decreased significantly. Although no significant change in body composition was observed in the physical frailty/pre-frailty group after the intervention, significant improvements in several items were observed in the robust group.

CONCLUSION

Isometric tongue lifting exercise can effectively improve oral function. Furthermore, it might affect physical function and body composition.

Evaluation of a non-personalized optopalatographic device for prospective use in functional post-stroke dysphagia therapy

OBJECTIVE

Stroke survivors commonly suffer from dysphagia, originating from oro-facial impairments which affect swallowing function. Functional therapy often employs tongue exercises that require the patient to perform short motion sequences. Evaluating the patients performance on those exercises is difficult, because there is no reliable form of visual feedback.

METHODS

We propose an optopalatographic device that does not require a personalized dental retainer and is capable of measuring tongue movement trajectories intraorally. The device features nine optical proximity sensors at 100 Hz and is fixated against the hard palate with a specifically developed palatal adhesive. The sensing capabilities of the device were evaluated on a tongue gesture corpus recorded from nine healthy individuals, containing eight different tongue exercises commonly used in functional dysphagia therapy.

RESULTS

The measured tongue trajectories contained temporally and spatially resolved information about the tongue movement and location during each exercise. Furthermore, a simple DTW-kNN classifier was able to distinguish the exercises from one another with an average classification accuracy of 97.9 % and 61.4 % (cross-validation and inter-speaker test accuracy, respectively).

CONCLUSION

the device can provide real-time feedback for tongue motion and we obtained promising gesture recognition results with relatively few sensors, even in the absence of a personalized dental retainer.

SIGNIFICANCE

Non-personalized optopalatography is readily available and could aid in improving functional dysphagia therapy by providing visual feedback to both the physician and patient.

Assessment of muscular tone of the tongue using a digital measure spoon in a healthy population: A pilot study

The study of the muscles of the tongue forms part of a basic evaluation of upper airway function that includes swallowing, speaking and chewing. It is important because the upper airway presents a region of collapse during sleep. Through the action of the dilator muscles, mainly the genioglossus, such collapse can be prevented. In this study, we present a simple tool that can be used to measure the strength of the tongue. This tool may provide an easy way to measure tongue function and allow a simple evaluation of pathologies that affect the tone of the tongue. We have carried out 20 tongue strength measurements using the Tongue Digital Spoon (TDS) in a healthy adult population, using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) as the gold standard. To validate the procedure, we performed replicate measurements on 20 individuals aged 20-70 years. We found a mean TDS measurement of 115.99 g/cm2 in young subjects, 98.47 g/cm2 in middle-aged subjects and 84.23 g/cm2 in the elderly. There was a significant difference in the measurements between young and elderly participants. There was also a significant correlation between TDS and IOPI measurements (Pearson correlation coefficient, r = 0.69, P < 0.001). We found the TDS to be a useful tool in daily clinical practice for the measurement of the strength of the tongue in the healthy population. It has potential application in oropharyngeal monitoring and rehabilitation.

Variability in tongue pressure among elderly and young healthy cohorts: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVES

Tongue pressure (TP) is used for the diagnosis of oral hypofunction; however, the impact of several variables on TP is unclear. Therefore, the current systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to analyse the variability in tongue pressure among healthy individuals aged ≥60 years vs <60 years. Secondary outcomes were the influence of gender and the type of measuring device (Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI) vs JMS tongue pressure measurement device (JMS)).

METHODS

PubMed and the Japanese database Ichushi-Web were searched systematically by two independent reviewers for studies reporting TP values in healthy populations. Clinical studies published between 1959 and June 2020 with more than 10 participants, written in English, German or Japanese, were included. A random-effects meta-regression for aggregate-level data was applied (α < 0.05).

RESULTS

Sixty-eight studies reported TP for a total of 13 773 subjects aged <60 years (n = 3265) and ≥60 years (n = 10 508). TP was significantly higher in subjects <60 years (estimated weighted mean (EWM) ± standard error = 51.9 ± 1.28 kPa; 95% CI = 49.4-54.4) relative to those ≥60 (EWM = 34.7 ± 0.94 kPa; 95% CI = 32.8-36.5) (P < .001), men (EWM = 45.9 ± 2.09 kPa; 95% CI = 41.8-50.0) relative to women (EWM = 39.3 ± 1.68 kPa; 95% CI = 36.0-42.6) (P = .015) and when assessed with the IOPI (EWM = 51.9 ± 1.32 kPa; 95% CI = 49.3-54.5) compared to the JMS (EWM = 33.5 ± 0.63 kPa; 95% CI = 32.2-34.7) (P < .001). In terms of gender, there was no significant difference in TP among subjects ≥60 years (P = .282). However, in subjects younger than 60, a significant difference was observed (P = .004).

CONCLUSIONS

Healthy populations aged <60 years showed significantly higher TP than those aged ≥60 years. TP values ascertained by the IOPI are significantly higher than those obtained with the JMS.