title: Oral transit time: a critical review of the literature.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral transit time is one of the parameters observed during the clinical assessment of the swallowing function. The importance of this parameter is due to its impact on the total duration of a meal, whose consequence can be an unfavorable nutritional prognostic.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To document scientific papers that measure oral transit time in healthy subjects.
  
  
  METHODS
  The review followed the steps proposed by the Cochrane Handbook. The search was done via the PubMed database through the use of descriptors related to the oral phase of swallowing, as well as to types of food consistency.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The articles on the theme had different definitions for oral transit time, as well as heterogeneity of tested volumes, age and gender of the participants. The times found varied from 0.35 s to 1.54 s for liquids, from 0.39 s to 1.05 s for pasty foods and from 1 s to 12.8 s for solid foods. Also, regardless of volume or consistency, oral transit time in elderly people is significantly longer than in adults.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There's no consensus in the literature about oral transit time in healthy subjects. However, this parameter should be valued during the assessment of the swallowing function due to its negative impact on the dynamics of swallowing, which can cause high energy expenditure during feeding.
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Thais Jacóe
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Danielle Pedroni
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Moraes
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gisele Chagas
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: de Medeiros
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernanda Chiarion
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Sassi
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zilberstein
authors.affiliation: Central Institute of the Hospital das Clinicas, School of Medicine, São Paulo University, São Paulo, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: Claudia Regina Furquim
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: de Andrade
mesh_terms: D003679:Deglutition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013997:Time Factors