Researchers have discovered that gender and height could have an effect on something we do every day: swallowing.

Sonja Molfenter, an assistant professor at the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, released a study this past June about the swallowing function in human beings. Her study, “Use of an Anatomical Scalar to Control for Sex-Based Size Differences in Measures of Hyoid Excursion During Swallowing,” explores the differences in swallowing function between women and men, which could result in more targeted treatments for swallowing disorders.

“This study was part of my doctoral work which focused on kinematic and temporal measures of swallowing in healthy participants and in patients with swallowing disorders,” Molfenter said. “I was inspired to do this work in order to further our field’s understanding about the complex biomechanics of swallowing.”

Patients who have suffered from a stroke, brain injury or head or neck cancer are likely to develop dysphagia, also known as a swallowing disorder. These disorders can completely prevent or make it very difficult for one to swallow. Thus, people with dysphagia are often unable to acquire essential fluids and nutrients. 

“Dysphagia can cause pneumonia and result in significant disruptions to nutrition and hydration,” Molfenter said. “It almost always causes major disruptions to quality of life.”

Separate studies have shown that gender plays a large role in swallowing biomechanics. These studies have found that men display greater movement than women in swallowing. This has resulted in different treatments for men and women who have dysphagia. However, Molfenter took a different approach in her study and chose to focus on height differences in people, rather than solely on gender.

“I was interested to know if gender differences could simply be the result of size/height differences,” she said.

To test her hypothesis, she took samples of healthy young men and women who represented a variety of heights. They were given several swallowing tasks including different volumes of liquid. By the end of her study, Molfenter was pleased to see that the results supported her hypothesis.

“The results showed that differences in swallowing biomechanics can actually be explained by the size of the individual, not just their sex,” Molfenter said. “Swallowing is such a basic biological function. It seems logical that men and women do this in a similar fashion when we control the variation attributable to their size differences.”

The overall process of completing this study took two years for Molfenter. However, she hopes to repeat this study in an older age group.

“This is important because most people who develop dysphagia are not young,” Molfenter said. “We need to know that this relationship holds true in older individuals as well.”

Because the study introduces new ideas about swallowing biomechanics, Molfenter hopes her research will prompt clinicians to use new methods and treatments.

“In the paper, we propose a way for clinicians to use a method to control for participant size when they are measuring swallowing biomechanics,” Molfenter said.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, Sept. 15 print edition. Email Avani Hegde at [email protected].