Surface electromyography in orofacial and cervical musculature in mouth breathing children: an integrative literature review

ABSTRACT Purpose: to review, in an integrative manner, studies using surface electromyography in the orofacial and cervical musculature in mouth breathing children aged from three to 11 years and 11 months old. Methods: the survey was conducted in national and international databases, from 1998 to 2018, in Portuguese, English and Spanish. Review articles, dissertations, book chapters, case studies and editorials were excluded. Results: 86 articles were found, 14 of which met the inclusion criteria. Most of these studies used surface electromyography to assess and describe the muscle condition of the mouth breathing population. Only one study addressed the influence of myofunctional speech therapy and two studies included physical therapy treatment, using electromyographic evaluation before and after the intervention. Given the main categories of analysis, the discussion was based on the year, state of publication and journal, sample size, scientific methodology, muscles assessed, assessment protocols used and the results of the publications. Conclusions: surface electromyography has been used mainly in the initial assessment of orofacial and postural myofunctional changes caused by mouth breathing and not as a therapeutic biofeedback, thus, it is important to conduct longitudinal studies using this instrument in mouth breathers.

摘要
目的：以整合性综述的方式，系统梳理1998年至2018年间，针对3岁0个月至11岁11个月的口呼吸儿童的口面部与颈部肌肉开展表面肌电图（surface electromyography）相关研究。
方法：本检索于1998年至2018年间，在葡萄牙语、英语及西班牙语的国内外数据库中进行。排除综述类文章、学位论文、图书章节、案例研究及社论类文献。
结果：共检索到86篇相关文献，其中14篇符合纳入标准。此类研究中，多数采用表面肌电图评估并描述口呼吸人群的肌肉功能状态；仅1项研究探讨了肌功能言语治疗的影响，另有2项研究纳入物理治疗干预，并在干预前后通过肌电图评估开展疗效评价。基于主要分析类别，本次综述从发表年份、发表期刊与地区、样本量、科学研究方法、所评估的肌肉类型、采用的评估方案以及文献研究结果等维度展开讨论。
结论：目前表面肌电图主要被应用于口呼吸引发的口面部及姿势性肌功能变化的初始评估阶段，而非作为治疗性生物反馈工具。因此，针对口呼吸群体开展基于该工具的纵向研究具有重要意义。