Normal values for swallow events during endoscopic evaluation of swallowing: a preliminary study.

Purpose: The current investigation aimed to establish preliminary normative data for endoscopic swallow studies (FEES). The investigators collected data for three timing measures (time to whiteout, duration of whiteout, and total swallow time), three swallowing outcomes (safety, efficiency, and number of swallows per bolus), and one physiologic event (glottal response), for both healthy young and older adults using two liquid volumes, one pureed bolus and a solid bolus.

Methods: Blinded raters retrospectively analyzed 65 randomly selected, deidentified videos of endoscopic swallowing examinations from a pool of 163 young and older adults with typical swallowing abilities. Timing measures and analysis of airway invasion, amount of residue, number of swallows, and glottal response were obtained.

Results: Preliminary means and quartiles were established for healthy adults in two age groups (young and old), for time to whiteout (WO), number of swallows per bolus, glottal response, Yale Residue Rating Scale Scores, Penetration-Aspiration Scale scores, duration of WO, and total swallow duration. Differences were found between the older and younger groups.

Conclusion: The current study represents a preliminary attempt to provide quantitative and normative values for FEES. These data represent reference values to which other bolus presentations and populations can be compared. The data represents proof of concept and merits additional investigation.

Irb id: 1756246-2: Approved 2022/06/06.

Clinical trial registration: Study does not meet criteria. DATA REPOSITORY: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.25800025 .