Agreement between telerehabilitation and face-to-face orofacial myofunctional assessment in persons with acquired brain injury.

BACKGROUND AND

OBJECTIVE

Orofacial myofunctional disorders are common in persons with acquired brain injury. A new way for early detection of orofacial myofunctional disorders via information and communication technologies may improve accessibility. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the level of agreement between face-to-face and tele-assessment of an orofacial myofunctional protocol in a sample of persons with acquired brain injury.

METHODS

A masked comparative evaluation was conducted in a local association of patients with acquired brain injury. Twenty-three participants (39.1% female, mean age of 54 years) with a diagnosis of acquired brain injury were included in the study. The patients followed a face-to-face and a real-time online assessment using the Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluation with Scores protocol. This is a protocol for evaluation with numerical scales that assess the physical characteristics and the main orofacial functions of patients including appearance, posture, and mobility of lips, tongue, cheeks, and jaws, respiration, mastication, and deglutition.

RESULTS

The analysis showed excellent interrater reliability (ρ ≥ 0.85) for all the categories. In addition, most confidence intervals were narrow.

CONCLUSIONS

This study reveals excellent interrater reliability of an orofacial myofunctional tele-assessment in patients with acquired brain injury in comparison with a traditional face-to-face evaluation.