Yueh-Juen Hwu

Introduction: Tongue strength reserve is the difference between the maximum isometric pressure (MIP) and swallowing pressure of the tongue. People with decreased tongue strength reserve may have a higher risk of presbyphagia or dysphagia. Thus, this study explored the effects of tongue strengthening exercise (TSE) on tongue strength reserve and detraining effects in healthy adults. Materials and Methods: In total, 102 healthy volunteers without any reported history of speech or swallowing deficits were recruited and assigned to experimental (n = 50) and control groups (n = 52). Exercises in the experimental group consisted of compressing an air-filled bulb between the tongue and hard palate for 30 min a day, 5 days a week, for 8 weeks. Thereafter, the experimental group underwent a 4-week detraining period. Results: Following the TSE training, posterior tongue strength reserve (F = 4.92, p = 0.029) of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group. No significant detraining effects were observed on the MIP and swallowing pressure from 4 weeks after the completion of TSE training. Conclusions: According to the study results, TSE may be an effective approach for improving swallowing function.

Inserting a nasogastric tube is a common clinical management approach to treating patients with chewing and swallowing impairments and those with choking and aspiration issues. Although guidelines recommend that these tubes should not be indwelled for more than 4-6 weeks, they are in practice sometimes indwelled for periods exceeding 36 months (Wong et al., 2019). Long-term nasogastric tube indwelling may cause clients to gradually lose the ability to chew and swallow, resulting in a decrease in the stimulation received by the brain and an increase in the incidence of dementia (Liu et al., 2019). Japan's long-term care insurance payment regulations, amended in 2021, clearly point out that successfully improving enablement, oral training, nutrition, and cognition in clients results in relatively high payments for long-term care service units (Tamiya et al., 2020). This column advocates for using inter-disciplinary collaboration to "enhance physical fitness, improve nutrition status, take care of the mouth, and then smoothly remove the nasogastric tube" in line with the abovementioned philosophy. When people eat, they initially require the coordination of their lower limb and trunk (core) muscles to support their body weight and maintain posture stability, as the upper limb muscles are critical to sending the food into the mouth. Hence, strengthening physical fitness is of primary importance. Based on the results of the medical staff's assessment, even patients with indwelled nasogastric tubes should continue eating by mouth. Providing high-protein / high-calorie texture-modified foods that meet the chewing and swallowing functional needs of clients is essential to facilitating the repair of cellular tissues. In addition, it is necessary to manage the symptoms of chewing and swallowing impairments to prevent dehydration. Clients with chewing and swallowing impairments are prone to food debris / plaque accumulation in the mouth, resulting in significant levels of bacteria breeding. Moreover, during choking, bacteria is propelled by the cough mechanism into the trachea and may cause aspiration pneumonia. Aspiration pneumonia is often managed using a nasogastric tube. Gastric acid and bacteria may migrate upwards along indwelled nasogastric tubes into the pharynx, resulting in reinfection with aspiration pneumonia. Oral hygiene is thus critical to breaking this vicious cycle. The five topics of this column were derived using the above framework. Clients who are successfully liberated of their nasogastric tubes through inter-disciplinary collaboration regain the ability to eat independently and reduce medical care expenditures, while medical professionals experience the value of their own professional existence as part of an inter-disciplinary team (Bauer et al., 2019; Cochrane et al., 2016; Magne & Vilk, 2020).

Oropharyngeal dysphagia is a common problem for nursing home residents that leads to aspiration pneumonia and malnutrition. Musculature surrounding head and neck and tongue strength are crucial for safe and efficient oropharyngeal swallowing. Oral hygiene facilitates the smooth swallowing. The aim of this study was thus to investigate the effects of a multifaceted intervention program which combines the interactive oral activities, tongue strength training and oral cleaning procedure on the eating ability of nursing home residents. A sequential, multiple time series, single-group quasi-experimental research design was used, and 41 residents were recruited to participate in this study. The study was divided into three phases, each lasting two months. In phase 1, the participants were conducting their usual activities, except that the outcome variables were measured on five occasions to obtain baseline data. Phase 2 was a two-month washout period, and phase 3 was the intervention period. Thirty-six residents completed phase 1, and 34 residents completed the phase 3 intervention period. The eight-week phase 3 intervention program comprised three sessions per day, conducted seven days a week, with each session lasting 15–20 min. Outcome variables were measured at weeks 0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 in phases 1 and 3 to evaluate the feasibility of the program. Following the intervention program, controlling for baseline differences, the patients’ tongue strength, food consumption, mealtime duration, oral health, and dysphagia severity were significantly improved in phase 3 relative to phase 1. These improvements lasted through to at least 2 months posttest. The study illustrates that this multifaceted intervention program may be an effective approach for improving the eating ability of nursing home residents.

Nursing professionals constitute the largest occupational group in all healthcare system departments, and are the healthcare professionals who work most closely and frequently with patients. The complexity and variability of the human body make nursing a high-risk occupation. The practice behaviors of nursing professionals must be safe, competent, and ethical, and must comply with relevant laws and regulations. Based on statistics published by the Colorado Nurses Association and the Nurses Service Organization (2020), professional conduct (32.5%), scope of practice (2.8%), and documentation error or omission (9.7%) are the three most-common categories of litigation faced by nurse practitioners. Smart medicine, which has emerged in the past decade, poses potential risks to patient privacy, safety, and professional nursing-care standards and holds the potential to significantly transform or even revolutionize the legal industry (Neary & Chen, 2017). Therefore, legal risk management is of particular importance to the nursing profession. Creating a legal-risk-management program in a workplace may start by focusing on one or more workplace aspects (e.g., individuals, teams, organizations, systems). However, the most crucial element is the frontline implementer. Therefore, the beliefs and attitudes of nursing staff and hospital care attendants toward the legal risks that may arise from the process of patient care are critically related to whether these professionals adhere strictly to the code of practice (Fontaine et al., 2019). This column proposes a safety initiative (SAFE) for the nursing-care workplace through special articles such as "Legal Risk Management in Nursing Practice: The Importance of Duty of Care," "Legal Liability for Negligence: Nurse Aides Working in Hospitals," and "The Legal Risks Faced in Nursing and Smart Healthcare." This initiative entails familiarizing nursing staff and care attendants with the legal risks associated with the patient-care profession (Support); setting high standards for patient care in the workplace that address these risks (Arousing); giving positive feedback to strengthen personal motivation, technical operation, and interpersonal interactions (Feedback); and creating a healthy workplace for practitioners while carrying out complex patient care (Environment). Shakespeare's famous drama The Tempest includes the timeless saying: "what's past is prologue." Analyzing litigation cases provides critical evidence to guide the evolution and improvement of nursing workplaces. Learning from past experience enables nurses and hospital care attendants to help others in a safe and dignified manner that will benefit all people.

The aims of this prospective observational study were to investigate age, sex, and factors related to the tongue pressure generated. A correlational research design was used. A total of 150 Chinese people who had a normal swallowing condition were enrolled by convenience sampling. Pressure was measured for each participant during maximum isometric press tasks, as well as for saliva and water swallows (5 mL) at the anterior and posterior tongue. The results illustrated that age has an impact on anterior tongue pressure (r = −0.22), posterior tongue pressure (r = −0.26); however, it does not have an impact on the swallowing pressure (SP) of the tongue. Sex differences were noted; males demonstrated a greater strength of the anterior tongue. There was a significant correlation between BMI and the maximum isometric pressure of the anterior tongue (MIP_ant). The pressures between anterior and posterior tongue were not significantly different in the maximum isometric or swallowing tasks. There were significant differences among the maximum isometric pressure (MIP), saliva swallowing pressure, and water swallowing pressure. The MIP generated was greater than the pressure in the swallowing tasks for the younger groups of both sexes. The study supplement the exploration of age-and-sex related differences and the interaction of sex and age in tongue pressure.

This study collected 11 parameters regarding the labial and lingual strength for maximum isometric and swallowing tasks among 150 healthy Chinese adults in Taiwan. Measurements were performed using the Iowa Oral Performance Instrument (IOPI). All of the labial and lingual strength parameters were measured three times. The maximal value of three trials represents the pressure of every parameter. The overall mean (±standard deviation) and maximum isometric pressures of the lips, anterior tongue, and posterior tongue were 24.81 ± 5.64, 55.95 ± 14.13, and 53.23 ± 12.24 kPa, respectively. The mean value of posterior tongue strength was less than that of the anterior tongue by approximately 5%. The percentages of maximum isometric tongue pressure during the swallowing of saliva and water were 85% and 80% for the anterior tongue and 90% and 81% for the posterior tongue, respectively. The average endurances for the anterior tongue and posterior tongue were 13.86 ± 7.08 and 10.06 ± 5.40 s, respectively. The maximum isometric pressures were greater than both the saliva and water swallowing pressures, and the saliva swallowing pressures were greater than the water swallowing pressures. A value of 33 kPa in maximum isometric pressure could serve as a demarcation of weak tongue strength for healthy Chinese adults. As for the repeated trials of labial and lingual strength, there were no statistically significant differences for any of the pressures obtained from the 11 labial and lingual strength parameters. The normative data can be used for the objective assessment of labial and lingual strength in healthy Chinese adults.

The ability to swallow efficiently and safely is essential to maintaining nutrition, hydration, health status, and quality of life. The process of swallowing requires coordination among a complex series of psychological, sensory, and motor behaviors that are both voluntary and involuntary (Balou, Herzberg, Kamelhar, & Molfenter, 2019). Presbyphagia refers to the changes associated with natural, healthy aging in the head and neck anatomy and in the physiologic and neural mechanisms that underpin the function of swallowing (Cichero, 2018). This progression of change contributes, in part, to a natural decline in the ability of the body to adapt to physiological stress. Chewing impairment and dysphagia are syndromes that are most-often associated with old age. The World Health Organization included oropharyngeal dysphagia in the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD) under subordinate codes 787.2 ICD9 and R13.10 ICD10 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015). The reported prevalence of oropharyngeal dysphagia among older adults has varied widely among studies, subjects, and locations (Ortega, Cabré, & Clavé, 2014). For example, the reported prevalence of chewing and swallowing disorders among community-healthy elders ranges between 11%~60% (Di Pede, Mantovani, Del Felice, & Masiero, 2016). Oropharyngeal dysphagia is an important factor that causes malnutrition and aspiration pneumonia in the elderly (Imaizumi et al., 2020). In view of the increasing prevalence of chewing and swallowing difficulties, PEACE has been adopted as the theoretical framework for this column "Perspectives on Chewing and Swallowing Care". The ultimate goal is to enable people to live long and enjoy a satisfactory quality of life (Enjoyment). To achieve this goal, people must have the ability to preserve in good condition the muscle groups and mechanisms related to swallowing (Preservation). However, preservation depends on three strategies: (1) Enhancing the knowledge and care skills related to chewing and swallowing difficulties, such as addressed in the four articles in this column: "Chewing screen and interventions for the elders", "The triangular relationship among swallowing disorder, aspiration pneumonia, and poor oral hygiene", "International classification systems of texture-modified foods", and "Innovative development of texture-softened foods for older adults living in residential care". (2) Holding a positive attitude (Attitude), especially regarding the potential for thoroughly implementing oral hygiene to break the vicious cycle of dysphagia-related aspiration pneumonia. Trust that people have the ability to maintain the strength of chewing and swallowing muscle groups and to resolve the comorbidities associated with sarcopenia and presbyphagia. (3) Practicing consistency in knowledge and action. Chewing and swallowing-related knowledge and care skills and positive attitudes may still be insufficient if knowledge and action are not united. When knowledge and action are united, the body may maintain to a good state of function and patients may enjoy peace through their life journey.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia, a swallowing disorder, is a common problem faced by older adults living in residential care. A direct management strategy for this disorder is to modify the texture of foods prior to serving using techniques such as chopping, mashing, liquid thickening, and reshaping. However, the process of texture modification causes foods to lose a significant amount of their nutritional value and reduces the motivation and fun of eating for diners. Eating is part of the enjoyment of life, and managing the nutrition status of older adults living in residential care is an important issue in aged societies. In this article, issues related to modified-texture foods, including their generally lower nutritional value, are discussed. In addition, combinations of cooking techniques that may increase tenderness in meat are explored to promote the future development of the soft-food meals for older adults living in residential care. One of the described techniques uses fresh fruits to pickle meat and vacuum low-temperature cooking technology that preserves the shape of meat after cooking and makes meat sufficiently soft to be broken up by the tongue. Vacuum low-temperature cooking allows for the precise control of cooking time and temperature, and professional cooking techniques may be used to improve the quality of the texture-softened foods. It is the hope of the authors that this article is used a reference for the future development of texture-softened foods for older adults living in residential care.