Clinical intervention studies of orofacial motricity: an analysis of the methodological quality of brazilian studies

ABSTRACT Purpose: to evaluate the methodological quality of clinical trials published in Brazilian journals. Methods: four trained independent researchers conducted a systematic literature search of all Brazilian speech therapy-related journals over the last ten years, whether the journals were active or inactive. All journal volumes published during that period were selected, and each researcher conducted an individual analysis to identify articles that focused primarily on orofacial motricity. The tools used were the Downs and Black Quality Checklist and the Jadad scale. Results: after the studies were selected and categorized, the final sample comprised six articles, all of which were classified as clinical trials. The observed methodological limitations included a lack of sample planning, randomization and blinding. Mean scores of 16.3 points on the Downs and Black Quality Checklist and 2.3 on the Jadad scale were obtained. Conclusion: the randomized controlled trials in the area of orofacial motricity are scarce in Brazilian literature, suggesting that studies in this area adopting this research design should be expanded and their quality should be improved to promote clinical practice based on scientific evidence.

摘要
研究目的：旨在评估发表于巴西期刊的临床试验的方法学质量。
研究方法：由四名经过专项培训的独立研究人员，对近十年间所有巴西言语治疗相关期刊（无论期刊当前处于活跃运营还是停更状态）开展系统性文献检索，纳入该时段内出版的全部期刊卷期；每名研究人员独立完成文献分析，以筛选出主要聚焦于口面部运动功能（orofacial motricity）的研究论文。本研究所使用的评价工具为Downs和Black质量检查表（Downs and Black Quality Checklist）以及Jadad量表（Jadad scale）。
研究结果：经文献筛选与分类后，最终纳入的有效样本共6篇论文，全部被归类为临床试验。本次研究观察到的方法学局限性包括样本量规划缺失、未实施随机化及盲法；纳入研究的论文在Downs和Black质量检查表上的平均得分为16.3分，在Jadad量表上的平均得分为2.3分。
研究结论：巴西现有学术文献中，口面部运动功能领域的随机对照试验极为匮乏，提示该领域需进一步推广采用此类研究设计的相关研究，并提升研究整体质量，以推动基于科学证据的临床实践发展。