School of Oral Health Sciences, Faculty of Dentistry, Kyushu Dental University, Kitakyushu, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 26;14(1):19746. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-70306-9.
Tongue brushing improves respiratory function in older adults. Considering connection between the respiratory-related and suprahyoid muscles, this study aimed to investigate whether tongue-brushing interventions can improve myoelectric activity during respiration. A six-week randomized controlled trial was conducted in Kitakyushu, Japan, with 50 participants aged ≥ 65 years. The participants were allocated to the intervention (tongue brushing with routine oral hygiene) or control (routine oral hygiene alone) groups. Surface electromyography (sEMG) was used to assess the myoelectric activity of the suprahyoid muscles during inhalation, exhalation, and forced vital capacity (FVC). A survey was conducted at baseline and the end of the follow-up period. Thirty-six participants were recruited for the analysis. The root mean squares (RMS) of sEMG during exhalation increased significantly at the end of the follow-up period compared with that at baseline in the intervention group [48.7 (18.0-177.5) vs. 64.9 (21.6-163.0), p = 0.001], but not in the control group. The generalized linear model revealed that the ratio of change in FVC was correlated with the change in the RMS of sEMG of the suprahyoid muscles during exhalation after adjusting for potential confounders. Tongue brushing enhances the myoelectric activity of the suprahyoid muscle.
舌部运动可改善老年人的呼吸功能。鉴于呼吸相关肌肉与舌骨上肌群之间存在联系，本研究旨在探究舌部运动干预是否可以改善呼吸过程中的表面肌电活动。在日本北九州市进行了一项为期 6 周的随机对照试验，共纳入 50 名年龄≥65 岁的参与者。参与者被分配到干预组（舌部运动结合常规口腔卫生）或对照组（仅进行常规口腔卫生）。使用表面肌电图（sEMG）评估吸气、呼气和用力肺活量（FVC）期间舌骨上肌群的肌电活动。在基线和随访结束时进行了问卷调查。共招募了 36 名参与者进行分析。与基线相比，干预组在随访结束时呼气时的 sEMG 均方根值（RMS）显著增加[48.7（18.0-177.5）比 64.9（21.6-163.0），p=0.001]，但对照组无明显变化。在调整了潜在混杂因素后，广义线性模型显示，FVC 变化率与呼气时舌骨上肌群 sEMG 的 RMS 变化率相关。舌部运动可增强舌骨上肌群的肌电活动。
