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The present study examined the cervical, thoracic and lumbar spines, and shoulder girdle range of motion (ROM) of dependent older adults to clarify the influence of these variables on swallowing function, in order to evaluate the efficiency of ROM training to maintain older adults' swallowing function.A total of 37 (mean age 86.8 ± 6.2 years; 11 men; 26 women) dependent older adults were included in the study. The level of swallowing function was assessed using the Functional Oral Intake Scale. The following ROM were measured three times to calculate the mean: the cervical spine (flexion, extension, rotation and lateral bending); thoracic and lumbar spines (flexion, extension, rotation and lateral bending); and shoulder girdle (flexion, extension, elevation and depression). In order to compare ROM, the participants showing Functional Oral Intake Scale scores of 7 were classified as dysphagia (-), and those showing scores7 were included in the dysphagia (+) subgroups.The dysphagia (+) group showed significantly limited cervical spine (flexion, extension and lateral bending), thoracic and lumbar spines (flexion, extension, rotation and lateral bending), and shoulder girdle (flexion, elevation, and depression) ROM.Although strict relationships were not clarified, the results of the present study suggested the influence of some joint ROM on swallowing function. This suggests the feasibility of preventing dysphagia among dependent older adults by maintaining and enhancing the elasticity and extensibility of their muscles through cervical, thoracic and lumbar spines, and shoulder girdle ROM training. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 2565-2572.

The microsphere model and the continuous withdrawal of arterial blood have commonly been used in clinical studies when measuring regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) by N-isopropyl-p-[ 123 I]iodoamphetamine (IMP) single photon emission tomography. The method is considered to underestimate rCBF because of the washout of tracer from brain tissue ; however, the extent of this underestimation is not known. To assess whether this underestimation can be determined quantitatively, we performed simulation analysis based on the microsphere model and the two-compartment model [influx, K 1 (rCBF) ; and outflux, k 2 (washout)I using the time-activity curves of 123 I-IMP in arterial blood [C a (t)] of 10 subjects. With the microsphere method, rCBF values fell as time post-injection increased. The extent of underestimation of rCBF was 4.7 ± 0.28% (mean ± S.D.) at 5 min, 10.2 ± 0.42% at 10 min and 15.2 ± 0.55% at 15 min. There was little variation in the extent of underestimation and it was not dependent on the C a (t) of the subjects. We therefore considered the results to be generally applicable to various studies of the microsphere model. As 4.7% is considered to be negligible in clinical studies, we conclude that the microsphere model can be applied to obtain accurate measurement of rCBF up to 5 min regardless of washout.