Orofacial Motricity and Dysphagia: analysis of theses defended by Brazilian speech-language pathologists

ABSTRACT Purpose: this study aimed to investigate the profile of the theses defended by Brazilian speech-language pathologists with a Doctoral Degree that analyzed issues related to Orofacial Motricity and Dysphagia. Methods: an exploratory retrospective documentary study, performed based on data collected on the Lattes Platform in 2017. The following variables were included: gender, time between graduation and defense, geographic location of institutions, type of institutions, program area and subareas. Results: among the 1,125 theses, 92 (8.1%) were related to Orofacial Motricity and 58 (5.1%) to Dysphagia; as for the gender of the speech-language pathologist, most were females (97.9% and 98.3% for Orofacial Motricity and Dysphagia, respectively); the average time between completing graduation and defending a doctorate was similar in both areas (13.8 years for Orofacial Motricity and 13.5 years for Dysphagia); most of the post-graduation degrees granted were in institutions in the Southeast region (70.0%) and in federal educational institutions. As for the area of knowledge, most were concentrated in Health Sciences (96.8%). Analyzing data referring to alterations present in adults, 54.3% in Orofacial Motricity and 82.7% in Dysphagia. Conclusion: the theses defended by speech-language pathologists addressing Orofacial Motricity and Dysphagia were written by women, on average a little over a decade after graduation in Speech-Language Pathology, and defended in programs offered by federal institutions, located in the Southeast region, in the area of Health Sciences. In addition, most of them focused on the analysis of alterations in adults.