Efficacy of Oral Exercise Training in Oral Frailty

As the elderly grow older, the quality and function of skeletal muscle are affected. Sarcopenia is commonly seen in the elderly, due to the loss of skeletal muscle mass and function, often resulting in loss of activity and weight. Oral frailty refers to the status of oral function decline. Several studies indicate the relationship between sarcopenia and oral frailty, which is assumed to be the predictor of sarcopenia. Oral frailty may also progress to presbyphagia over time, causing higher risk of malnutrition, dehydration, pneumonia, and poor quality of life. In addition, recently, the use of ultrasound can measure the distance and speed of the hyoid bone displacement, thus more clearly assessing the swallowing function. The investigators aim to analyze whether oral exercise training can promote the oral and swallowing performance of the residents with oral frailty, and the feasibility of ultrasound as swallowing function evaluation.

The investigators' study will enroll participants from residential long-term care facilities according to the screening of oral frailty. The participants will be equally arranged to experimental and control groups. The intervention strategies will be given after institutional education training. Oral exercise training will be performed by facility's primary caregiver with professionals' remote supervision for 12 weeks. Evaluation tools include hand grip strength, 6-meter walking test, body composition analysis check (BIA), repeated saliva swallowing test, eating dysfunction scale (EAT-10), Functional Oral Intake Scale (FOIS), quality of life questionnaires, tongue muscle strength test and ultrasound swallowing function test.