Processamento sensorial de crianças respiradoras orais e nasais

Abstract

The present work aims to verify the existence of a relationship between mouth breathing and alterations in sensory processing in children. This is an observational, analytical and cross-sectional study, part of a doctoral thesis. The population sample was obtained randomly, by convenience and spontaneous demand, according to the eligibility criteria. The study population was made up of a case group, made up of children diagnosed with mouth breathing, and a control group, with children without signs and symptoms of mouth breathing or allergic rhinitis matched for age (5 to 12 years) and sex. The case group was collected among the children seen at the Allergy and Allergology Outpatient Clinic of the Hospital das Clínicas, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, during the data collection period. The control group was recruited randomly from among the children seen at the Dentistry School Clinic of the Universidade Federal de Pernambuco. Thirty children from each group were selected through pairing and population exhaustion. The oral and nasal breathing children went through sensory processing evaluation, through the Sensory Processing Measure- Home form, and the oral breathers went through orofacial motricity evaluation through the Orofacial Myofunctional Evaluation with Score. The results were presented in table form. Most of the evaluated children are male, with a mean age of 8 years. 83.33% of the mouth breathers had alterations in the total sensorial processing, and more than half of this population had some problem in most of the systems evaluated. Analyzing the systems separately, the mouth breathers presented alteration mainly in the proprioceptive (60%), visual (53.33%) and tactile (53.33%) systems. The nasal breathing children didn't show alteration in any system. Thus, it was possible to conclude that mouth breathing children are more likely to present sensory alterations when compared to children of the same age group who do not present breathing disorders, highlighting the need for further study and intervention for this population.