Influence of handgrip strength on pharyngeal transit time in individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the relationship between Handgrip Strength (HGS), dysphagia classification, nutritional aspects, and Pharyngeal Transit Time (PTT) in subjects with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Methods: Study based on the analysis of secondary data from a database. The sample comprised 15 COPD patients of both sexes and a mean age of 65.7 years. We collected information on HGS, videofluoroscopic swallowing study, Volume-Viscosity Swallow Test (V-VST), and Body Mass Index (BMI). We applied correlation, effect size, and logistic regression tests at the 5% significance level. Results: Most individuals had severe COPD (66.7%), mean dominant HGS of 28.2, and non-dominant HGS of 25.3. Five subjects were malnourished, five were well-nourished, and five were obese. Most of them had normal swallowing (40%), normal V-VST results (60%), and PTT of 0.89 s (liquid) and 0.81 s (pudding-thick). There was no significant correlation between the swallowing classification and the other variables. We obtained a significant correlation (p = 0.015), though weak (r = −0.611), between non-dominant HGS and PTT. Regarding the binary logistic regression, HGS variables and HGS asymmetry were not enough to be considered a risk to clinically abnormal swallowing (V-VST). Conclusion: Subjects with COPD in this study had a longer PTT than reported in the literature for normal subjects and a weak correlation between PTT and non-dominant HGS. The variables related to muscle condition were not considered predictors for abnormal swallowing. Level of evidence: 3.

Keywords

• Pulmonary disease
• Chronic obstructive
• Deglutition disorders
• Hand strength
• Muscle weakness