Investigation of the relationship between voice characteristics and presbyphagia in geriatric population

This study aimed to examine the relationship between voice characteristics and presbyphagia in a geriatric population. For this purpose, 96 participants over the age of 65 years were included and it was investigated whether there was a difference between individuals with and without swallowing disorders according to dysphagia risk score between acoustic, aerodynamic sound parameters, swallowing performances, and nutritional evaluations. Acoustic parameters analyzed were F0, jitter, shimmer, harmonic noise ratio, aerodynamic parameters were maximum phonation time (MPT) and S/Z ratio, and swallowing performance was measured by EAT-10 and timed water swallowing test. MPT was statistically significantly lower in individuals with dysphagia. In addition, MPT decreased with increasing age, and the time to articulate words in the diadokinetic rate test increased. The results suggest that reduced respiratory support and control, decreased mouth range of motion and coordination, vocal fold closure and airflow control deficits during vocal fold adduction are risk factors for dysphagia in the elderly population.