['It is common belief that symptoms of patients with non-obstructive dysphagia are the result of impaired bolus clearance in the esophagus, usually caused by esophageal motility disorders. We therefore investigated the relationship between transit of swallowed boluses and the symptom dysphagia.', 'Twenty healthy volunteers and 20 patients with dysphagia underwent videofluoroscopy. Success of bolus transport was graded on a 7-point scale. Each subject swallowed five liquid and five solid barium boluses.', 'For liquids, patients reported dysphagia during 1 [0-3] of the five swallows, while controls reported no dysphagia (median 0 [0-0]; p = 0.003). For solids, patients reported dysphagia during 3 [2-4] of five swallows, while controls reported dysphagia in 0.5 [0-2] of five swallows (p = 0.001). When correlating dysphagia to ineffective clearance (score ≥ 3), in 3 [2-4] of five liquids, the subjects perception of clearance was related to the clearance result on fluoroscopy in patients and also 3 [1-5] were correctly perceived in controls (p = 0.6). For solids, in 4 [3-5] of five swallows, the subjects perception of clearance was related to the clearance result on fluoroscopy in patients, but only 2 [1-3] of five swallows were correctly perceived by controls, the difference being statistically significant.'] Is sensation of stasis poorly correlated with impaired esophageal bolus transport?