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The Usefulness of the Line Spread Test as a Measure of Liquid Consistency

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Abstract

Although dietary modification is a common treatment strategy used to manage dysphagic patients who aspirate thin liquids, there are no standard definitions for thickened liquid preparation. This lack of standardization leads to variability in practice and points to the need for a simple tool for clinicians to assess thickened liquid consistency. The current study analyzed the utility of the Line Spread Test (LST) in this regard. Twenty-six liquids (10 powder-thickened “nectar” juices, 10 powder-thickened “honey” juices, and 6 barium mixtures) were assessed using both a viscometer for objective measurement of viscosity and the LST. Whereas the LST was able to separate the juices into nectar and honey categories, it was not able to separate barium mixtures into these categories nor compare barium to juices. Furthermore, the LST was not predictive of viscosity. Thus, the results of the current study suggest that the LST may be useful in the broad categorization of fluids into therapeutically significant groupings but that it cannot be used more specifically to measure fluid viscosity. Further studies of this and other tools are necessary to identify inexpensive practical tools for quantification of thickened liquid consistency.

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Notes

  1. Conservation of fluid volume may be used to simply relate the slump height to the line spread distance, emphasizing the similarity between these two tests

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to E-Z-EM, Inc. and Novartis Nutrition for providing materials used in this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute on Aging, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Mark A. Nicosia PhD

  2. Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    JoAnne Robbins PhD

  3. Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center (GRECC), William S. Middleton Memorial VA Medical Center, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Mark A. Nicosia PhD & JoAnne Robbins PhD

  4. Communication Sciences and Disorders Research Group (CSDRG) Investigators, Rockville, Maryland, USA

    JoAnne Robbins PhD

  5. William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, 2500 Overlook Terrace, GRECC 11G, Madison, WI, 53705, USA

    JoAnne Robbins PhD

Authors
  1. Mark A. Nicosia PhD
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  2. JoAnne Robbins PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to JoAnne Robbins PhD.

Additional information

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health (U01 DC03206, R01 NS24427) and National Research Service Award (No. T32 AG00213) from the National Institute on Aging. This is GRECC manuscript 99-05.

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Nicosia, M.A., Robbins, J. The Usefulness of the Line Spread Test as a Measure of Liquid Consistency. Dysphagia 22, 306–311 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00455-007-9086-3

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