Objective: The objective of this study was to assess the effect of bolus taste variability on oropharyngeal swallowing in normal individuals versus stroke patients to explore its role in the management of oropharyngeal dysphagia.
Patients and Methods: This study was conducted on 30 patients with oropharyngeal dysphagia due to stroke and 30 healthy adults, who were assessed during swallowing of 5 ml liquid boluses and 5 ml semisolid boluses of different tastes: sweet, salty, sour, and bitter/spicy. They were examined using videofluoroscopy and nasopharyngeal videofibroscopy to analyze temporal measures of swallowing, penetration aspiration scale, and Mansoura FEES Residue Rating Scale.
Results: In all bolus tastes, both fluids and semisolid consistencies demonstrated significantly longer temporal measures in the patient group than in the control group. All temporal measures were consistently longer in the semisolid consistency than in the fluid consistency. However, this difference did not reach statistical significance in some cases (e.g., sweet taste in the patient group and sour taste in the control group). Non-significant differences were found between different tastes as regards their effects on PAS scores as well as on residue scale scores.
Conclusion: Different tastes have different temporal measures, with the sweet taste being the shortest and bitter taste being the most prolonged durations in both normal and stroke patients. Neither studied taste correlated significantly with penetration /aspiration of food boluses nor with their residue scale. The food taste management option could be used in different physiological breakdowns, which necessitates further research.