Association of Oral Diadochokinesis, Physical Function and Swallowing Function in Community-Dwelling Elderly People

Objective: Oral diadochokinesis (ODK) has been shown to be associated with oral frailty. In this study, we investigate the relationship between physical function, swallowing function, nutritional evaluation, and each syllable of ODK. Methods: The subjects are 26 elderly people living in an area where they can walk. ODK, tongue pressure, modified water swallowing test, EAT-10, grip strength, MNA-SF, skeletal muscle index, height, weight, and BMI were evaluated. For statistical analysis based on ODK values, the subjects were divided into two groups on the basis of the number of times the syllables /pa/, /ta/, and /ka/ were repeated: 1) The first group with >6 repetitions exceeded six; 2) the second group with ≤5 repetitions. Both groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test (Model 1). In addition, the syllables /pa/, /ta/, and /ka/ were also divided among the groups and a comparison was performed (Model 2). Results: In Model 1, the tongue pressure value was significantly higher in the good group (p < 0.01). In Model 2, the good group showed significantly higher values for the syllables /pa/ (p < 0.01) and /ta/ (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the values for the syllable /ka/. Conclusion: In community-dwelling elderly people, tongue pressure was positively associated with ODK values for the syllables /pa/ and /ta/, suggesting that tongue pressure may be associated with strength of the lip and tongue tip muscles. Furthermore, it was suggested that the ODK values may even be lower than normal values in the elderly who maintain skeletal muscle mass and thus have adequate tongue pressure;therefore, these indicators may be used as a guideline to assess oral frailty.